Moonlight and Summer
by A fool who thinks they're wise
Summary: Lucy's been having a tough couple months, eversince they came back from tenrou island, memories from her past have started haunting her dreams.Especially ones about a boy that she grew up with. Her best friend? Or maybe more? Either way Natsu's not happy
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again everyone! BD**

**Pronvincials are in town and I'm going away for the weekend, so I won't be able to update for while.**

**Sorry! **

**And thank you to all the lovely people who have reviewed! I'm glad your still sticking with me :D I'm just about to put up chapter 3, I hope you enjoy it. :) Also, Shining Stellar, thank-you for pointing out the spelling error in chapter 2, I'm sorry that was there. And I don't mind at all that you pointed it out, thank-you for doing so :D..wow, I have a lot of smiley faces, oh well! Enjoy chapter 3 :D **

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><p><em>Pale moonlight filtered through the sharp night air that surrounded Lucy as <em>_she carefully snuck across the Heartfilia estate to the garden. Well, to be more precise she made her way over to the actual garden with flowers in it that been formed a small corner behind her mother's grave, dwarfed by the vast landscape that her father owned. Her mother had planted it herself, saying that she planned to make it her escape from the world. _

_She had laughed at Lucy when the little girl had cried, thinking that her mother wanted to escape from her as well as the world. When she saw how upset Lucy was though, she had lent down and wrapped her in a warm embrace. Lucy recalled her mother's warm breath at her ear as she told her that it could her secret escape too if she wanted._

_She was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a gloved hand grasp her shoulder. She jumped half a foot into the air before spinning around and coming face to face with the person she had snuck out to meet. Pitch black eyes met chocolate brown ones as she relaxed and sighed before getting angry. _

_"Baka! What was that for? You scared me half to death!" A soft chuckle escaped the boy's lips as he looked over Lucy, she felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she remembered what she was wearing. Rationalizing that if she was caught, people would believe it more if she told them she had been sleepwalking in her nightgown. This nightgown in particular was a soft shade of blue that seemed to almost glow in the moonlight and the sleeves went all the way down to her wrists where they were tied with dark blue ribbon. She had put on some matching slippers that she had enchanted the night before to have a hard sole so she would be able to walk easier. She had been hoping that they would believe her story about sleepwalking and wouldn't ask why the slippers were enchanted, that was the only thing she couldn't come up with a reason for. Her long blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulders instead of in the bun that her father always insisted on her wearing in public. _

_"Sorry Lulu, I just couldn't resist. You make the funniest faces when you're scared." His perfect white teeth showed slightly as he gave her a soft smile which gave a nice contrast to his black hair. She felt her heart beat faster and her blush deepen as she turned away from his intoxicating gaze, determined not to show him what a simple smile could do to her. She knew that it was a futile effort and given the smirk he gave her, she could see that he knew as well. _

_Clearing her throat and hopefully the blush as well, she turned back to face him again, doing her best to meet his gaze. "Well, what did you want to meet about Neil?" The light in his eyes dimmed a bit and instantly she knew that it wasn't good. "Lulu, I-" He took a breath to steady himself before continuing. "I-I have to go." _

_She felt her heart shatter, the tiny pieces piercing her lungs as her blood froze in her veins. Unable to breathe or move, Lucy just stood there and stared. "Go?" She repeatedly numbly, "Go where?" His eyes filled with guilt and Lucy felt a twinge of regret for acting like this, she should really be sending him off with a smile and telling him to take care of himself. _

_But that was probably because a bigger part of her was having trouble processing the fact that he was going to leave her. Or maybe yet another part of her knew that once the numbness and shock wore off when she comprehended this, the loss of her heart was going to kill her slowly and painfully. __Without Neil, the small burst of love she received from the rest of the staff of the mansion seemed like a tiny drop in the dark depths of the ocean. _

_His eyes studied her as she went through this thought process before he reached forward and pulled her into his arms. Her eyes widened in surprise at this sudden movement and she opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard his voice in her ear, his warm breathe tickling her ear just like her mother's had done. "I'm really sorry Lulu, but I have to go. It's the only way for-" He broke off his sentence and Lucy waited for him to pick it back up, enjoying the warmth of his arms while feeling tears begin to form in her eyes. _

_"It's-just-it's just something that I have to do, don't worry about it." She could tell that he was lying; it had never been something that he was good at. "But I wanted to tell you because I'm not coming back. And I didn't want you to waste your life here waiting for me, only to be forced to m-m-marry someone that you don't love." His voice wavered and she felt his arms tighten around her. He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure before continuing. "It's up to you entirely, but I think that you should run away to Fairy Tail like you've always wanted." __He laughed quietly. "Hell you talk about it so much that it's hard to believe that you're not already a member." _

_He started to slip her arms away from her. Panic forced her blood to defrost enough for her wrap her arms around him, stopping him from leaving. She leaned against his chest and felt his strong muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt. She remembered this shirt. she had made it for him in secret, all by herself so her father wouldn't be angry at her for doing "servant's work". She smiled at the memory as she felt the tears that she had been trying to hold back fall quietly down her face. _

_"Lucy." _

_His voice whispered, begging her to look at him. But she couldn't make herself move knowing that if she did, he would leave. His pale but strong fingers grasped her chin and forced her to look at him, her teary eyes meeting his soft but determined ones. Slowly, almost without her realising it, they moved closer and closer to each other, until finally his lips brushed against hers. _"

Luce!" Lucy promptly fell out of her bed and dream and hit the hard wood floor with a thud. Wincing she looked up into the worried face of the person that was responsible for her rough landing. Natsu's onyx eyes were watching her carefully as she rubbed her sore butt and pushed herself up. She took a deep breath and smiled at Natsu before-

"What the hell was that for baka?" This exclamation was accompanied by a fluffy pink pillow that skimmed Natsu's pink hair as he ducked to avoid it hitting him. "Hey!" He protested, before catching Happy in his arms. Lucy had mistaken him for a furry pillow and had chucked him at Natsu without looking down first.

"Lucy's a meanie!" Happy cried to Natsu, pointing his furry blue paw at her accusingly.

"Shut up you alley cat!"

"And she's weird! Only a weird person would think I'm an alley cat!"

"Shut up! And what are you two even doing in MY apartment?"

Natsu stared at her before exchanging glances with Happy.

"You're right, she really is a weirdo."

"Aye."

Lucy twitched and resisted the urge to ferociously rip the two of them limb from limb and settled on figuring out why exactly they thought she was a weirdo today.

"Could you please just tell me what you're doing here?"

Natsu gave her a lopsided grin and laughed, causing a healthy flush to rise to her face.

"You weirdo, it's the Fairy Tail annual barbeque today remember? It's the all day celebration that you _told_ us to come and get you up for?"

Lucy felt her cheeks flame even more in embarrassment and she face palmed herself. She had never been to a barbeque picnic before and she was so excited that she had wanted to be there extra early, so she had told Natsu and Happy to come and get her. Feeling a rush of excitement come back and overrule her embarrassment, she smiled at them and ran her fingers through her hair sheepishly.

"Oh! Sorry, I'll go get changed." She ran over to her dresser drawer and pulled out some clothes for the day ahead before running to the bathroom.

"Wait, Luce!" She paused and turned back to Natsu her hand halfway to the door handle.

"Yeah?" She said, shifting impatiently.

Natsu cocked his head to the side and studied her for what had to be only a few moments but in her impatient state it seemed like an hour.

"Why were you crying? Did you have a scary dream?"

All at the once the dream came flooding back, the moon, the sharp night air, his warm embrace and their lips brushing against each other. Lucy spun back around to the door so fast that she almost gave herself whiplash.

"Yeah, I dreamed that you ate all the food at the barbeque and everyone else when hungry." She sighed loudly and opened the bathroom door, muttering: "What's really scary is that's not actually that far-fetched." She knew that he would hear it with his super sensitive hearing and hopefully it would make him believe her.

After making sure that the bathroom door was closed behind her, she sank to her knees and leaned against it. Closing her eyes, she watched the dream replay over and over again in her mind until eventually the only thing that she saw was his eyes, staring straight into her and piercing her all the way to her very soul. She shook her head and swept those thoughts to the back of her mind. Standing up, she started to get ready, thinking over the past couple months as she did so. Ever since they had come back from Tenrou Island she had been having these dreams, memories from her past resurfacing with a vengeance.

It was as though they were afraid of her forgetting them and were doing their utmost to make sure that this did not become a reality. It was breaking her down slowly, being forced to redo all the things that she had done or had happened and knowing that she couldn't change them or stop them from happening. Watching her mother die again had put her in a slump for a few weeks, forcing her to break off a mission with Erza, Gray, Happy and Natsu. They hadn't been pleased, but they were more concerned about her welfare then the mission and had decided against going in the end.

Knowing that she was worrying them, she had forced herself to smile again and had gone on a mission with them as soon as they suggested it to her. You couldn't change the past, she knew that. She also knew that there was no sense worrying and being sad over something that you don't have the power to control. But that didn't stop her from doing it.

She finished changing and checked her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing the shirt she had worn on the first day she and Natsu had met along with the skirt and a brown belt that had her keys on one side with her whip on the other. Her hair was tied up in its normal side ponytail with a blue ribbon that went with the rest of her outfit.

A smile came to her lips as she remembered meeting Natsu for the first time. How crazy and totally overboard he had gone when he had saved her from those pirates. He had practically destroyed the port and most of town. To be fair, she was to blame for some of the damage too, but mostly it had been Natsu. The baka just didn't know when enough was enough.

Taking one last looke in the mirror and satisfied that she looked presentable (and not to mention pretty damn hot) she brushed her teeth before heading back into the other room to join Natsu with a new sense of determination. Because after all, this was her first Fairy Tail barbeque and she wasn't going to let anything or anybody ruin it.


	2. Chapter 2

The smell bacon and sausages filtered through the air, leading a drooling Natsu to the park with Lucy struggling not to follow his example. The smell was so strong that _she_ could practically taste it so she hoped that meant Natsu actually could taste it. That way there might actually be some the rest of them.

To distract herself from her grumbling stomach, she went over what Erza had told her about the barbeque a week or so before. It was a huge event, one of the only really well-thought out parties. The barbeque started early in the morning, so they were fed breakfast before spending the rest of the morning playing games and talking with each other. Then lunch was served and after that there was usually a huge group game. (It depended on whether or not they had managed to convince Natsu not to cause too much destruction. But Erza had assured Lucy that she would _personally_ make sure of that.) This was followed by dinner and, what Levy had assured her was the best part of all, fireworks.

_"For example, last year there was a whole moving Fairy Tail guild!" Levy laughed, her blue hair flying up and down as she bounced with excitement. "It had a drinking Cana, a flying Happy that said "Aye!", Natsu and Grey fighting, Erza threatening them and Elfman telling everyone to be a real man." She stopped bouncing and a frown replaced her bright smile. "Though, I guess that was eight years ago, not one."_

"Lu-chan!" Lucy snapped her head up and saw Levy waving at her. Then there was a flash of blue and Lucy was caught up in a bone-crushing hug. "What took you so long? We were just about to start eating!" She released her death grip on Lucy and looked from her to Natsu (who had rushed ahead to see if he could steal some of the bacon without Mira Jane noticing.) before giving Lucy a sly look.

"Did something _interesting_ happen between you and Natsu? Is that why you're late?"

"Levy!" Lucy cried, her cheeks giving off enough heat to start a fire. Levy laughed, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "Sorry Lu-chan, I just couldn't resist."

_"I just couldn't resist." _

Neil.

_Lucy sank down onto the__ cushy__ train seat and__ pulled up her bright pink suitcase up to her knees. Leaning on it support, she gazed out the window and __watched the town fly past her. She had waited a year before running away, spending half that time staring at the sky in the garden__. Often she would find herself touching her lips, lost in thought about her first kiss. On the days when the silence inside that horrible house got too loud for her, she lost herself in the memory of his warm lips pressing softly, then firmly against hers. _

_The memory comforted her but eventually, she would have to remember that it had ended. That he had pulled himself away from her, his warmth leaving her instantly and plunging her back into the night air once again. That suddenly, without his arms around her, the night air had been unbearably cold._

_ Lost in the memories that consumed her, she didn't notice for quite a while that her father's balls starting having less and less girls and more and more guys. When she did, she began to notice the way they were always undressing her with their eyes. Their gaze traveling up and down her curvaceous body with lust emitting from them in a strong cloud that pressed down upon her, making her struggle to keep a calm demeanor up. She tried talking to her father about it, but he simply told her to spend her time elsewhere on more pressing things like her studies, and to stop bothering him. The final straw had been- _

"Don't you think?" Lucy was jolted out of her revive by Levy's inquiring voice. "Huh?" She blurted out before mentally slapping herself for not paying attention. "I said, don't you think it would be a good idea if you told him that you like him?" Lucy's jaw dropped in shock and she felt the heat return to her face with a vengeance.

"I-I d-don't like him!" She exclaimed, aware of the fact that she was making it all the more obvious by acting like this. She had loved, and was certain that a part of her would always love Neil. But she knew that he wasn't ever going to come back, she had faced up to that a long time ago. And then she had met Natsu, and he had turned her world upside down.

No, that wasn't quite right. He had turned her world upside down and delighted in spinning it whenever he got the chance, enjoying how dizzy she got. And somewhere in all that spinning she had fallen for him. How could she not? What with his crazy superhuman strength, his unflinching loyalty to his nakama and his beautiful smile. Not to mention his perfectly toned chest and abs of steel. Curse his damn attractiveness!

But the dolt was as dense as a doorknob (which she doubted he knew how to use, seeing as he was always coming in through her window) and he couldn't see that she liked him. And even if he could, he obviously didn't feel the same way for her. Why would he want her if he had the kind, beautiful and perfect Lisanna by his side? If she thought it was hopeless when Lisanna wasn't here, now that she was, she _knew_ it was hopeless. But she didn't hate her for it. Lisanna had been there first, and she had more of a claim to Natsu then Lucy ever would. And she was really sweet and caring, the kind of person that you just cannot dislike. Even though it broke her heart, she hoped that when Natsu finally got his act together and asked Lisanna out, they would be a happy couple.

Levy, who had been studying Lucy's facial expressions for the past few minutes, just raised an eyebrow and struggled to keep a smirk off her face. "Sure you don't." Lucy glared at Levy before inspiration hit her, transforming her frown into an evil smirk. "What an overactive imagination you have Levy Redfox. Oops! I mean Levy Mcgarden." It worked instantly; Levy flushed an even deeper color then Lucy and gave off enough heat to start millions of fires. "Shhh! Lucy!" "What's wrong shorty?" Levy went the color of ash before spinning around to look into the quizzical red eyes of the iron dragon slayer. Gajeel looked over the shocked girls who were for the moment rendered speechless. Lucy quickly snapped out of it and slung her arm around Levy shoulders comfortingly. Her mind racing as she tried to think up a way to get out of this.

Inspiration struck.

She sighed sadly and shook her before meeting Gajeel's now confused red eyes. "Well, you see Gajeel, Levy's got a little bit of a problem of her hands." Gajeel's eyebrows furrowed and his expression darkened. Levy's own eyes met Lucy's for a moment and Lucy sent her a "just go with it" look. "What's the problem?" Lucy sent Levy an unsure look.

"Are you ok with telling Gajeel, I mean it's not like no one else has noticed it." Levy hesitated for a moment before sighing as well. "Well…ok." Lucy looked back to a distressed Gajeel, he was clearly desperate to know what was bugging Levy. The poor guy was head over heels for her, but he wasn't exactly the best at talking. Feeling the tiniest bit guilty for what she was about to do to him, she began her story.

"You see Gajeel; some of the girls from the guild sometimes go out for coffee together at this place in town. And when we went there last time, we noticed that this waiter was paying extra special attention to Levy." Gajeel emitted a low growl, almost unnoticeable if you weren't used to hanging out with Natsu every day. Lucy took this as a sign that he believed her so far.

"The first couple of time we went, he would just glance at her from across the room. But recently he's taking to stopping by our table every few minutes. And the last time we went," Lucy's voice dropped to a hushed tone here, as though she was talking about someone on their death bed.

"He asked Levy out."

"What?" Gajeel growled, loud enough for everyone in the park to hear. Those that were with Fairy Tail stopped what they were doing to watch and those who weren't hurried out of there as fast as their legs could carry them. Lucy nodded gravely, ignoring the stares from all the others. Levy had gone rather pale and was leaning on Lucy for support, her eyes as round as dinner plates.

"Of course she said no, but now he's taken to following her around. She was feeling pretty embarrassed about it so she didn't want anyone to know. This one's been pretty hard to get rid of. The other's got the message much more quickly than this."

Gajeel looked pretty murderous right now and Lucy briefly regretted telling him this. "Others?" He asked, struggling to make his voice appear calm. "Oh yeah, there have been tons of others. We have to fight them off with sticks whenever we go out together. It's no surprise really, seeing how pretty Levy is."

Gajeel was quite for a moment and Lucy wondered if she had gone too far with the stick thing. Maybe he had seen through her lie? She shuddered at how he would react if he found out he'd been lied to. Then suddenly he lurched forward and grabbed Levy's arm before pulling her past the gawking members of the guild and into the forested area ahead. There were a few moments of silence as everyone watched the woods anxiously. Finally, a very sheepish Levy and a flushed Gajeel exited the woods hand in hand.

Instantly, the whole clearing erupted into cheers and hoots of "Finally!" and "What took you guys so long?" Lucy sent Levy a thumbs up, which she enthusiastically returned. "Alright everyone!" Mirajane called out above the tremendous noise. "Breakfast is ready!" This caused an even greater ruckus as everyone rushed to get food. Lucy laughed good naturedly at their craziness and observed silently as they dog piled on each other for the last piece of bacon.

Maybe she would just wait for the mob to subside before she went it. Then again the food would probably be gone by the time that happened. She glanced at her rumbling stomach and wondered whether she could make it until lunch. "What's up Luce?" Natsu's warm breath blew right into her ear, causing her to spin around and trip over her own feet. Luckily he caught her, which was saying something when he was carrying a plate stacked high with bacon, pancakes and strawberries. Quickly, she stood back up and steadied herself, helped by Natsu's hands on her shoulders.

"Hey c'mon weirdo, don't go falling down on me." He joked. Lucy told herself that she would have replied with a witty response if only her stomach hadn't grumbled really loudly right then and there. Natsu snorted and raised his eyebrow at her. "Hungry?" He offered the plate to her, causing her to nearly fall over again in shock. Natsu was offering her his _food? _Who was this guy and what exactly had he done with the Natsu she knew? "Yeah, thanks." She grabbed a strawberry off his plate and bit into it, feeling its sweet juices run down the back of her throat. He grinned at her choice. "I knew you'd pick that first." She raised her eyebrows at him and grabbed a few (well maybe it was more like twenty, but who was counting?) peices of bacon.

"How so?" He laughed and took a step closer to her, his warm spicy scent filling her nose. He raised his hand and poked her on the forehead, laughing at her pouty expression. "Because that's what you always smell like. And you always seem to have them in your fridge, every time we go over." His eyes trapped her, paralysing her and pinning her to where she stood. Lucy felt her heart thump loudly in her chest as she stared into his onyx eyes, his gaze never leaving hers. She felt the world stop moving beneath her and the river of time freeze in place. A hurricane could have happened and she wouldn't have noticed it. In this moment, the only thing that existed was Natsu and his eyes. And his lips which she realised were within kissing distance and moving steadily closer.

She had almost closed her eyes when suddenly he snorted and broke their gaze before stepping away from her. "What's with the weird face weirdo?" Lucy felt the oppressive weight of bitter disappointment set itself down on her chest. Struggling to smile, she pretended to get angry at him for teasing her and shook her fist at him as he ran away laughing over to Lisanna. She watched for a moment as he greeted her, his smile getting wider and wider each moment he spent over there. Lisanna laughed cutely at something he said before ruffling his hair.

Turning away from the noise of the guild, she faced the trees and watched them blur slightly in her vision as she reprimanded herself for being so gullible. Hadn't she told herself millions of times that Natsu didn't care for her that way? Any action that she took as romantic would only be thought of as friendly by him.

Pulling her hair back from her face, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Smiling at the irony of her situation, she wondered why she always had to fall in love with people that would only disappoint her.

Neil and Natsu. How ironic that both of their names started with N. Maybe it was sign that she should move on and not have anything to do with people whose name began with N in the future. If only you could forget someone by snapping your fingers, then you wouldn't have to deal with disappointment and shattered hearts. You could just forget their entire existence and move on, not wasting hours staring into space and wishing with your very soul that they would suddenly change their mind or pop up out of nowhere and never leave your side again.

She shook her head. What was she doing, wallowing in self-pity like this? Hadn't she promised herself back at the house that she wouldn't let anything ruin her first ever BBQ? Turning back to the rest of the guild, she brushed her bitterness away to one side, locked a smile on her face and made her way over to join the others.


	3. Chapter 3

"Whoa Levy, you already have Gajeel hanging on your arm and the fireworks haven't even started." Cana laughed, chugging down the last of her barrel. She, Levy, Cana, Juvia, Erza, and Mirajane were all seated in a circle, it was after dinner and they were just waiting for the fireworks to start. The girls were anxious to hear about what happened in the woods with Levy and Gajeel, they had tried to talk to her several times that day but she was always with Gajeel.

Finally, Erza managed to drag Levy away and Gray managed to drag Gajeel away to where the guys were talking. Natsu, Lisanna and Happy were in the middle of the two groups tossing a water balloon back and forth. Lucy tried to focus on something other than their laughter and the looks they exchanged together, but was finding it rather difficult.

"What's so special about the fireworks? Lucy asked. Cana stared at her for a moment as though she had suddenly announced that she was a leprechaun in disguise before slapping her forehead. "I forgot, you're new here so you wouldn't know "The Legend of the Fireworks"."

"What's "The Legend of the Fireworks"?" Lucy's nose crinkled in confusion. "It's this rumor that our guild started years ago," Erza said, joining the rest of the girls in the circle with a strawberry cheesecake. She took a bite of her cake before continuing.

"They say that if you look up at the fireworks with the person that you like, you'll get together soon after." Erza snorted at the idea before taking another bit of cake. God, she really loved cake, Lucy was pretty sure that was her eleventh piece. "It's a stupid story really."

"Hey! It worked for Bisca and Alzack." Levy protested, her cheeks reddening, a sign that she had been one of the few who believed the rumor. Erza rolled her eyes and swallowed her cake. "Yeah, but everyone could see that coming from a mile off. And anyway, this circle isn't to discuss them, it's to discuss you."

"So, what happened?" Lucy could smell the alcohol on Cana's breath as she leaned over to talk to Levy. Did Natsu know about the legend of the fireworks? Even if he did know, he probably thought that it was all just a bunch crap. And even if he didn't think it was a bunch of crap, he probably wouldn't ask her to see them with him. He would ask his future girlfriend and soul mate, Lisanna. Shaking her head, she snapped back to the current conversation (and away from her self-pity) as Levy began to stammer her way through her story.

"W-w-well, he took me through the woods before stopping and dropping my hand." She paused and the rest of the girls (Lucy included) leaned in closer, impatience plastered all over their faces. Levy squirmed under their intense gaze. "A-a-and then he asked me if I liked anyone. I-I-I said yes and he went really stiff before spinning around and trapping me to the tree."

This got a fee squeaks out of the circle and they leaned (if possible) even closer. "H-h-he said that was a problem because he liked me and he had no intention of giving me up. I said that was good because he was the person I liked." A small smile graced Levy's lips as the memory played out through her mind. "Juvia is glad that she has one less rival for Gray-sama's love!" This exclamation was quickly shushed by the other girl's as they waited for Levy to continue.

And then…" Levy trailed off, looking unsure of what to do. "And then what?" Erza asked, her eyes as sharp and piercing as ever. Levy appeared to be struggling to say whatever was on her mind in a calm voice.

"H-h-he k-k-kissed m-m-me."

The girl's circle erupted into cries and shouts as everyone squirmed even closer to Levy. Levy looked very embarrassed but very happy at the same time. Lucy felt a sad smile spread itself across her face. She was glad that Levy's first kiss had ended in such happiness for her and Gajeel.

"And how was it?" Cana asked, wiping her curly brown hair out her face before chugging down another barrel of alcohol.

"It was-"

_Like your lips were on fire but cool and refreshed at the same time. Like you very breath was being snatched away from you, as exhilaration pumped its way through your veins. Every sense in your body was heightened, and you felt as though you had never and never would feel more alive. True and utter bliss but strangely tinged with bitterness. Because no matter how much you didn't want to, you had to let go in the end. _

Lucy became conscious of the other girls staring at her and realised that she must have said that out loud. She wanted to slap herself, but was pretty sure that if they didn't already question her sanity, doing that would assure them she was nuts. How could she have been so stupid as to let her thoughts take over her mouth? Hadn't she been determined to make sure that the Fairy Tail BBQ wasn't ruined? And here she was spouting stuff about bitterness and bliss. How freaking poetic.

She had probably ruined Levy's day too, and this was supposed to be special. After all, it had been Levy's first kiss, not hers. Covering her mouth and flicking her eyes over to Natsu, she noticed that he too was looking at her strangely. Their eyes met for a moment before Lisanna called him back to their game. Lucy tugged her gaze back to the circle, where Levy had been the first to recover.

"Yeah…that's right, how did you know Lu-chan?" Lucy opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the next to recover, Cana. "Obviously, our Lucy hasn't been as honest with us as we thought she was. So Lucy, tell us who the lucky guy was, and when we can meet him." Lucy found herself automatically answering Cana before she could stop herself. "You guys can't meet him." Cana raised her eyebrow questioningly at this. "Why not?" Realization dawned on her face and she leaned closer to Lucy. "Did he tell you not to tell anyone about the two of you?"

"No. It's just…" Lucy trailed off, unsure of whether or not to continue. "Just what?" Erza asked suspiciously, casually taking out her sword as though Neil was just going to pop up out of nowhere. Well that wasn't going to happen for her because it sure as hell hadn't worked for Lucy.

"It's a guy I knew, back when I lived at home." Lucy said carefully, making sure to take her time with each individual syllable, as though it would ward off further questions, unfortunately it didn't work. "But you told me that you'd never had a boyfriend." Cana pressed, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Well, he….wasn'texactlymyboyfriend." Lucy mumbled, averting her eyes from Cana's perceptive ones.

"Juvia wonders how exactly someone can kiss Lucy but not be their boyfriend." Juvia's gaze was even more perceptive then Cana's and Lucy felt herself squirming under her gaze. Couldn't they just go back to bugging Levy? "He….well, he had to leave before we had a chance to become…." Lucy trailed off; momentarily distracted by the iron grip grasping her heart. "Why did he leave?" Levy asked, her eyebrows knitted in confusion with Cana's.

Lucy threw her hands up into the air, frustrated by the circle of girls. Why were they asking so many damn questions? "Look, can we just drop it? It happened a long, long time ago." She gritted out through her teeth testily, eyeing the girls around her. "Obviously, not long enough ago for you to be able to just laugh it off." Cana commented dryly. Lucy felt rather like tearing her hair out.

"Lucy, if this is still bothering you, then it would be better for you to talk to us about it. So we can help you get over it and move one. If you keep it locked up inside you, eventually, you'll just break down. And what kind of friends would we be if we let that happen to you?" Erza's calm voice soothed Lucy's anxiety and she felt herself let out the breath she was holding.

Running a hand through her hair, she went over it in her mind. Erza was right, like she had said before, it was breaking her down. And she couldn't make the guild watch her slowly break down; it would just hurt them even more than it hurt her. She didn't want to ruin this day for them, but at the same time, she was screaming on the inside that she needed someone to listen to her. She needed someone to stand there and not say anything, just listen to her pour her heart out. To relieve the burden that hung like a heavy pall over her shoulders.

Lucy eyed the anxious stares of her friends before sighing and smiling sadly at them. "Just to be sure, you not going to let this go are you?" "Absolutely not." Erza told her, sweeping her scarlet hair away from her eyes. "I'd better start from the beginning then." Lucy leaned back for a moment and closed her eyes, collecting her thoughts, before slowly opening them and her mouth to begin.

"When I was little, I was playing in the garden and I met this boy. He was the same age as me with pale skin, dark black hair and even darker eyes. I introduced myself and he told me his name was Neil. He told me that my name was too big for him to say all the time so he called me lulu. I told him that made me sound like some sort of exotic fruit and he laughed like he'd never laughed before. We started talking from there and pretty soon we were the best of friends.

When I told my father about him though, he told me to stop making up stories about people that didn't exist. My mother met him once, a month before she died and told me that she thought he was good husband material. After she d-d-died, he and I became closer and he told me that he would take care of me. He stayed with me throughout my whole childhood and I slowly started to fall for him.

He didn't like people touching him though. He said bad things happened to people who did. But I think that was him just being paranoid, I held his hand a lot when we were younger and nothing happened to me. So I didn't have much hope for him falling in love with me." Lucy took a deep breath before continuing, preparing herself for what had to come next.

"But then, a few days after I turned sixteen, he asked me to meet him in the garden after everyone else was asleep. When I went out to meet him, at first he acted like nothing was wrong and then...he told me...that..he had to leave." Even with the preparation, it was a struggle to hold back the lump in her throat and the tears that threatened to spill over.

"I couldn't believe it; it felt like my heart had been shattered into millions of pieces. I was still trying to process what was going on when he pulled me into a hug. He told me that he was sorry but it was just something that he had to do. I started crying, and he pulled my face towards his and kissed me. After that he said goodbye and left, and I went back to the house and tried to cope, really I did, but everything felt so empty and cold. A never ending nothingness that seemed to surround me and no matter where I hid I couldn't seem to escape it. I had to though after-."

She broke of there and looked away from the girl's and their shocked and sympathetic looks. "After what Lucy? What happened?" Erza's kind voice shot through her thoughts and she turned back to the face the group with a forced smile on her face. "After I found out about Fairy Tail, it seemed like such a fun place to be. I could imagine myself hanging out with you all in the guild, laughing and having fun. That's when I knew I had to leave." She laughed softly and the girls broke into laughter as well.

All except for Erza, who was watching Lucy like a hawk. Lucy could see that she hadn't fallen for her lie, and she hadn't expected her to. Erza was the Queen of the Fairies, there was no way she would fall for such a horrible and ill thought out lie.

"Lucy-" Erza began, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of a spikey pink hair. "Hey Luce!" Natsu grinned, his canines glinting slightly from the lamplight that surrounded them. "Hey Natsu." She said, trying to sound a bit disinterested, though she didn't know why she was bothering. "So, the fireworks should be starting soon, let's go watch them together!" His hand shot out like a bolt of light and grabbed her arm, dragging her away before she even had time to protest. But, they would have been half-hearted anyways. Her heart was beating too fast for her to think of anything witty to say.

"Wait Natsu! Slow down!" She managed to choke out as they came to a stop at the top of the hill. Natsu looked around for a moment, studying their surroundings before turning to her with his big grin. "This is going to our spot ok? You stay here while I grab some food from down there okay?" And without stopping to hear her answer, he jetted off down to the bottom of the hill.

She stood there for a moment before shutting her mouth and sighing. Glancing around the area, she felt a smile spring to her lips. This was a great spot for viewing fireworks and even if it had been a horrible spot she wouldn't have minded. After all, she was with Natsu and that was all that mattered. Excitement began to trickle its way through her as she thought about why he could've wanted to watch the fireworks with her. Maybe he had heard about the legend and he wanted to watch her them with her so they would end up together. Maybe he liked her and Lisanna was just a friend to him. But, was he just a friend to Lisanna? She didn't want to hurt her nakama's feelings. But seeing as Lisanna had let Natsu speed her away, maybe it meant that she really did only see Natsu as a friend.

Sitting herself down on the grass, Lucy felt a smile spread across her face as she imagined all the ways that Natsu could ask her out, chuckling slightly at the more absurd ones and feeling her body hum with happiness. Only, where was he? He'd been gone rather a long time; the fireworks would be starting so-

"Lulu."

Lucy felt millions of different emotions grip her at once. Shock was the first; freezing her humming body and making her go numb. He was here? How could he be here? Where had he been all this time? Then came the joy that spilled into her and instantly warmed her up. Feeling seeped its way back into her and she shot up and spun around, impatient for the moment when coal black eyes would meet chocolate again. Only then would she-

A blinding flash of light snapped her out of her thoughts and she stumbled backwards, feeling dizzy and disorientated. Blinking the spots out of her vision, she looked up to see Natsu doubled over in laughter. Her thoughts seemed to have stopped, allowing her only to stare at him. He was wheezing now, out of breath from laughing so hard, her chocolate eyes took in his form and words started to form on her lips.

"What…?" She managed to whisper, her voice close to cracking from the emotions that had begun to fill her. Natsu was wiping a tear from his eyes and looking at the image on the camera in his hands. "Ah Luce, you should've seen your face! It was hilarious! It's perfect for the album." Lucy's thoughts were moving at a snail's pace but slowly picking up speed. She watched him for a moment before letting them leave her lips.

"Album?" She said dumbly. "Yeah, the one me and Lisanna are creating." Him and Lisanna, her thoughts started working at their normal pace. The only reason that he had called her up there was so he could capture a funny picture of her for an album that he and _Lisanna_ were creating.

How could he do that? Hadn't he heard her talk about Neil? He had to have heard her say how broken up she was over it, seeing as how he heard her talking about the nickname. He was talking now, his lips moving quickly, acting as though it was no big deal. She felt as though the duct tape, that she had used to keep her heart together all those lonely months without any love, had been ripped off. It left her with all those broken pieces of her heart again, piercing her lungs and making it hard to breathe. Tears began to well up in her eyes before plummeting towards the cold dark ground.

"Whoa, Luce are you alri-"

SLAP

Lucy held her now stinging hand close to her as Natsu stumbled backwards, shock now covering his expression. Good, she hoped he felt even a fraction of what she did. "Don't touch me you bastard. Don't come anywhere near me." She turned and ran past him, past his calls and down the hill. There she ran past the calls of the other guild members and headed straight into the blackness of the night. She ran and ran and ran until she finally had to slow down so she could breathe.

She noticed that she was just outside her apartment, but she couldn't go in there. Her stellar spirits would sense that something was wrong and they would try to come out and talk to her. And she couldn't deal with that right now. she couldn't talk. All she wanted to do was crawl into a deep dark hole where no one would ever find her.

She collapsed on the ground, not caring that she was in the middle of the street, and sobbed. Her cries breaking the dead silence of the surrounding night air as she punched the road, only stopping when she saw a trickle of blood run down her hand and onto the cold marble below. How could she have been so stupid as to let him get to her? How could she have been so stupid as to think for just one moment that he actually cared about her more than the rest of the guild members? She had wanted so badly for it to be true, but all she had ended up with was another shattered heart and a bloody fist.

Neil and Natsu.

Stupid N, they should ban all names beginning with the letter N. That way she wouldn't have to deal with all these shattered pieces of her heart. Sobbing louder now, she lay down on the ground and curled into a ball, wishing that she had never agreed to go to the stupid BBQ.

"Lulu?"

Oh couldn't he just leave her alone? Couldn't he tell that he had upset her? Or was he just more stupid than she had though he was. "Stop it Natsu please." Her voice breaking slightly at the please, begging him to just let her lie there and break apart.

"Lulu, it's me."

Raising her head, chocolate eyes met coal and she felt a laugh escape from her lips. Great, now she was just so desperate to see him that she was hallucinating. Although, if he was a hallucination, why was he picking her up and carrying her to her apartment? Hallucinations couldn't touch you last she checked. Oh well, might as well enjoy this while it lasted. After all, when she woke up, everything would be waiting for her to pick up again.

She twirled her fingers in his hair and snuggled closer. His black hair was just how she had remembered it, soft and silky to the touch, and his chest was still as muscled. She smiled slightly at the thought of waking up to find that he hadn't disappeared. Though, she didn't have high expectations. Yawning, she felt her eyes fall closed as she drifted off to sleep in his warm arms. And for the first time in a long time, she didn't have any dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

Lucy awoke to the morning sun stinging her swollen eyes. Squirming away from the light, she turned towards the rest of room. Yawning, she opened her eyes for a second before snuggling back into her bed again. And then she promptly fell off that bed in shock. Landing with a loud thump on the floor for the second time in two days, she looked disbelievingly into the coal eyes that she had been so desperate to see again. Tears began to prick in the corners of eyes as he laughed, his gleaming white teeth casting their glow upon her.

"Wow Lulu, I never knew how bad you wanted to see me." He sobered up and looked away from her. "Although, I can see that you didn't listen to what I said about moving on." His eyes were full of a pain that she felt pierce her to very core. She felt the tears of joy roll down her face for a different reason then. She had made him feel guilty and they'd only been talking for half a minute. Obviously she was a complete fool who couldn't do anything right despite the fact that she was a member of the famous Fairy Tail.

Hell, let's be honest, she was a burden to them too. She was too weak to belong in such a prestigious guild, maybe she should have just stayed with her father and married Fallon. A shiver ran through her as she unconsciously mentioned his name and she had to grab her arms to stop them shaking. This didn't help much, because in absence of her shaking arms, the rest of her body started to shake. Her breath came in and out in huge choked gasps. Neil's gaze zipped back to her and he knelt down and took her in his strong arms. Stroking the back of her head to calm her down, he apologized.

"Lulu, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so cruel." His warm breath was tickling her ear again. Did that mean he was going to leave soon? Everyone whose breath tickled her ear left her alone in the darkness that encompassed her. It hurt to be forgotten about, to be just left to fend for herself against the cold world. But she didn't blame them, why would they want to stay with someone who wasn't even whole anymore? Her heart had been broken so much, it was unthinkable that she might someday manage to put it back together. She was so, so hurt.

"It's not that." She managed to push past her gasping breaths. "It's just….I don't want to be alone again. Neil, when you were with me, everything was alright. You took care of me and sheltered me from the world, and when you left-" She broke into another sob at the thought of what had happened when he left. He said nothing, just rubbed her back, a sign that he was waiting for her to finish. And she knew she had to finish what she had started, it was unfair to just leave him hanging.

"When you left, everything went dark. I tried to cope by myself and get over it, really truly I did. But everything was so cold and scary, looming at me with incredible force. I began to become less and less attached to the world, not caring what was going on around me." She took a breath to steady herself, she knew it wouldn't help much, but is should be enough for her to finish her story.

"So I didn't notice when at first when my father's ball's started having less and less girls and more and more guys." Neil's grip instantly tightened on her and he stopped stroking her head. "I don't remember when it happened. I think I was dancing with one of the other guys at the ball when it suddenly hit me that I was the only girl there. I excused myself almost immediately after, saying that I was feeling unwell." Her hands had started to shake again, like they already knew what was coming next.

"I thought about it in my room that night and decided that maybe it would be alright if I held out for another few months while I figured out a way to escape that place. But even with the guys and girl balls, it wasn't enough to make me face the world and run alone into it."

She wasn't crying now, it seemed all of her tears on this had already been spent. All that was left was an ache that consumed her very being.

"B-but then this guy kept coming over with his father on days that there weren't any balls. His name was Fallon, and he had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed nice enough, but I knew right away that I couldn't love him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but instantly I didn't trust him. His father and my father would talk for hours in his study while Fallon and I hung out together in the library. Everything seemed fine until one night he suddenly jumped up and kissed me." Her body was shaking again, despite being in Neil's firm grip.

"I pushed him away and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing. He grinned at me and asked me why I hadn't figured it out. He said that my father and his father were getting together so they could discuss our marriage. I tried to protest that was impossible and make a break for the doors, but he caught me and pulled me to the back of the library, behind the bookcases. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth, silencing me and making me feel like I was underwater, silenced by his very presence.

The maids who were supposed to be watching us had disappeared, he had probably paid them to leave. Before I had time to think, he pushed me up against the bookcase and I felt the spines of the books dig into my back. He laughed when he saw my face and told me that he liked girls who struggled. I tried kicking him and he slapped me really hard, telling me that I had struggled enough for now. He started to try to take my dress off, but our fathers entered from the other side of the room. He put my dress down but kissed me again, sticking his tongue into my mouth, running it along the roof of my mouth and around my tongue. Then he made me look him in his frigid eyes and told me that I had escaped for now, but not to be too happy, because he always got what he wanted."

Neil's grip had tightened on her so much that it was making it hard to breathe. "That was when I knew I had to get out of there. I planned that night what I was going to do and the following week when everyone was asleep, I ran away. At first it was hard, really hard, but then I met Natsu and Happy and they brought me to Fairy Tail. And I've had the most amazing time here. My nakama filled up the emptiness inside of me and I'm so incredibly grateful to them." Lucy let her body sag in relief. That was the first time she had ever told anyone what had happened to her in the library. She wrapped her arms around Neil and hugged him back, letting him know that she was alright. Neil gave her a long squeeze before pulling her out to look him in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Lucy. I'm sorry that I had to leave you alone there in that empty place. I just had to go….have I said I'm sorry?" Lucy laughed at the adorable look in his eyes and flicked his nose. "Yes, but you don't need to. It's nobody's fault but my own. If I had been stronger, then I would've left earlier and that wouldn't have happened." Neil shook his head and gave Lucy a stern look.

"It's not your fault, it's his. The crummy bastard, if I ever find him…." "You won't. He died while I was on Tenrou Island." Lucy gave him a strange look. "Come to think of it, how'd you look almost exactly like you did eight years ago?" Neil scratched the back of his head and smiled.

"Well, when I had finished what I had to do I was planning to come see you at Fairy Tail. And then, I heard the news that you and a few other members of Fairy Tail had disappeared. I couldn't believe that you were gone before I even had the chance to tell you that I loved you. But the more I thought about it, I remembered that my Lulu doesn't go down that easily. So I asked one of the friends that I had made on my journey to freeze me and wake me up when they found you guys again." He gestured at his well-toned body. "And here I am."

Lucy was hadn't heard what Neil had said, she was stuck on the fact that Neil had said that he loved her. "You loved me?" He shook his head. "No, I love you as in, right here and right now." He grinned at her sheepishly before pulling her mouth onto his. She felt her senses leap again as their lips met, filling her with that same exhilaration that she had been longing for all those years. But as the same time, it wasn't the same. Because she realised that it wasn't his lips that she'd been longing for, but the hot lips of a certain spikey haired teen. She had loved Neil, and her heart sometimes still ached over the love that she had lost. But she had moved on, and even though Natsu would never love her back, it wasn't fair to go out with Neil when her heart belonged to someone else. Slowly and reluctantly, he pulled away from her and twirled a piece of her golden hair in his fingers.

"The only thing left now, is for you to tell me what you think of me."

She took a deep breath, calming her shaking lips and hands.

"I-"

* * *

><p>Loki made his way into the Fairy Tail bar and was immediately surrounded by anxious Fairy Tail members. All of them were desperate to know how Lucy was and what exactly was wrong with her. All they knew was that she had come running down past them before the fireworks had even gotten a chance to start. And then Natsu had come running down after her with a huge red handprint already starting to form on his face. He started to follow her into the night but Elfman and Grey had held him back, telling him that he had to tell them what was wrong with Lucy. He had tried to push past them, but eventually he just slumped to the ground and averted his eyes from all the evil glares he was getting from the rest of the guild.<p>

He even avoided Lisanna, which no one could ever remember ever happening before. He was now sitting at the bar chugging down some hot chocolate and trying to pretend that he didn't care that Loki had just entered the guild. It was almost impossible to tell what he thought about the whole thing. But then he had walked backwards towards the group so that he was just in hearing distance. Talk about immature. Loki ran a hand through his spikey orange hair and waved down the cries of the guild.

"Look, she wouldn't let any of us talk to her last night, so even I don't know exactly what happened. She just collapsed outside her house and started crying like crazy. I tried to come out, but she wasn't letting me through. Then this guy with dark hair and black eyes showed up. She thought it was Natsu and told him to stop it. But then he told her that it was him and she looked up and started laughing. It was really scary laughter too, she sounded hysterical. But all he did was pick her up and carry her inside."

Natsu dropped his hot chocolate and turned away as the cup shattered into millions of pieces. Pushing past the other members of the guild, he grabbed Loki by the collar and growled dangerously, his eyes burning with rage. "You let some bastard that we don't know just pick her up and go into her apartment? What if he tried to hurt her? What were you thinking you damn lion?" He sniffed and gripped Loki's collar tighter. "And why do you suddenly smell so fucking different?" flames were beginning to spark into life on his hands and Loki had to shove them away to prevent himself from being burned.

"I would've stopped him, but Lucy seemed to know him." "What do you mean, she seemed to know him?" Levy asked, her eyes full of worry and her face covered in lines of fatigue. Gajeel put a comforting arm around her and pulled her close to him. "Well for one thing, he didn't call her Lucy, he called her Lulu and she didn't start screaming when he picked her up. Instead she snuggled into his chest and fell fast asleep, as though she hadn't slept in days. Though, I guess that's to be expected." Loki sighed and sat down on one of the tables that lined the guild.

"Why is that to be expected?" Erza asked, her voice slightly strained by staying up searching for Lucy all night and then staying at the guild until the early morning hours waiting for her. "Ever since we came back from Tenrou Island, Lucy's been having dreams about all the things that happened in her past. It's been killing her, having to relive everything that happened in her life and knowing that she's powerless to change it." Loki's voice went deathly quiet. "She had to watch her mother die again, and then she had to pretend to be happy so you wouldn't notice anything was wrong with her."

The guild was quite for a moment as they digested this, everything clicking into place in their mind. Levy started crying, Erza punched herself in her arm, Cana chugged down three barrels of alcohol at once and Juvia made it start to rain inside the guild, soaking them all to the bone. Natsu stormed away from the group and started making his way towards the door. Loki jumped up and blocked his path, earning a growl from Natsu and a fiery fist that evaporated the rain around him into mist.

"Let me through you stupid lion." He snarled. "Lucy doesn't want to see you right now; when she's ready she'll come to you. Not the other way around. Clearly you really hurt her and that gorge you made in the middle of your relationship has to be crossed by her and not you. Besides, I don't want you bursting in on the two lovebirds." Loki gave Natsu a smug grin, confident of his superiority.

Natsu went very stiff.

"Lovebirds?" He growled threateningly. Gajeel quickly left Levy's side and caught him in an iron grip so that he wouldn't attack Loki. The lion was fully aware of what he was doing, but considering how the stupid salamander had made Lucy feel, he felt he could have a little fun. "Yeah, right before I left, I saw the guy kissing Lucy. In….the….bed…room." He waggled his eyebrows at Natsu. "Figure it out for yourself Salamander."

Immediately, he knew he had gone too far. Natsu threw Gajeel backwards across the room and shoved Loki out of the way before bursting out of the guild doors and running out into the bright morning. Groaning, Gajeel pulled himself out of the remains of what had once been the bar. Levy rushed over to him and looked over him, making sure that for the most part he was alright. After he had managed to assure her he was okay, he sauntered over to Loki and picked him up the back of his shirt, red eyes betraying the utter calm on his face.

"You idiot. You just had to go and aggravate him didn't you?" Dropping Loki in disgust he looked at the rest of the guild members who were standing around wondering what they should do.

Levy finally broke the silence. "Well, I guess we better wait for Natsu to come back with his tail between his legs." Levy said cautiously. Gajeel snorted and looked at the door. "Yeah, maybe he'll get lucky and only come back with a red handprint like yesterday."

* * *

><p>Natsu raced down the street, ignoring the alarmed glances that the citizens of Magnolia were shooting him. He couldn't believe it, how could Lucy just let some strange guy into her house? And how could she let him <em>kiss<em> her? It wasn't right! She couldn't do that! She was only supposed to kiss _him, _nobody else was supposed to get her strawberry scented lips. They belonged to him!

Well, they didn't really. But they might as well have! She was his reason for smiling every day, didn't she know that? After he thought Lisanna had died, he had felt so low and awful all the time. He had just spent every other day looking for Igneel, thinking that if he found him, everything else would just fall into place. Instead, he had found Lucy and she had become his sun. It was as though she made the world spin around her every time he was with her. Slowly, he had fallen in love with her beautiful smile and her loyalty to her nakama.

Couldn't she see that he thought she was so amazing? Why couldn't she see!

And Tenrou Island, when she was getting crushed by Kain he had seen his whole world blowing out of existence before him. He couldn't stand it, he had been so desperate to help her, but the damn rocks had trapped him beneath them, rendering him helpless. And she had been so brave, even faced with certain death, she had chosen to stay with him and not run away. Thank-god the voodoo doll had been within his reach, he still woke up in the middle of the night with nightmares about that.

In them, he had never been able to reach the doll in time and she had collapsed in pile just inches from the reach of his hands. Turning over to him, she had smiled at him before the light from her eyes went out, leaving an empty smile and taking his heart with her. Then the dream would change and he would see her dance away from him in a white dress, always just millimetres away from his reach until she would finally leave him to fend for himself in a world of darkness.

How was he supposed to survive without his sun? It wasn't possible.

And the thought that some stranger had stolen away his sun from him was incomprehensible. She was _his_, and there was no way in heaven or hell that he was gonna let some guy just waltz in and take her from him.

A thought occurred to him and he stopped in his tracks for a moment.

Had he caused this to happen? Had he made he so angry and upset that she had thrown herself at the first man who had coming knocking at her door? She had been really angry last night, but he hadn't understood why. He had just wanted to get a picture of her cute surprised face for the album he was making for her. Lisanna had said that it would be a great present for him to give her when he told her he liked her.

Lisanna was truly a great friend, when they were little he had thought that maybe one day they might be something more but now he knew he could never love Lisanna like he loved _his_ Lucy. Picking up speed again, he raced down the streets until Lucy's apartment finally came within sight. As he stopped underneath her window, his well-trained ears picked up Lucy's panicked tone but he couldn't make out what she was saying.

Panicking himself about what could be happening to Lucy, he jumped up to her window ledge and slammed the window open. Fire began to curl itself intensely around his body as he saw the scene below him; eyes blazing with a fire that outmatched even his own.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to _my_ Luce?"


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the late update! I've been kind of busy as of late.

Thank you for all your wonderful reveiws and I hope you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: (cuz I forgot to put one in the beggining D':) I do not own Fairy Tail or the tune that is hummed. (is that a word?) anyway, Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Slowly and reluctantly, he pulled away from her and twirled a piece of her golden hair in his fingers. "The only thing left now, is for you to tell me what you think of me." She took a deep breath, calming her shaking lips and hands.<p>

"I-I'm sorry Neil, I loved you years ago but I've moved on." She covered her face in her hands. She didn't want to hurt Neil, she really didn't. After all, she was pretty sure that if he hadn't been there for her when she was young, she would have just molded herself to fit her father's preferences and let herself be sold off to the highest bidder. Instead, his love had given her courage and strength, allowed her to know what it was like to be happy. And because she had received that taste of happiness, she had developed a hunger for it and a stubborn idea had formed in her mind. That she deserved this happiness and that she could fight for it. He had let her know that she could run away from the gloom of the mansion and let herself be enveloped by the warm sunlight.

But when he had gone, the courage that he had been nurturing within her locked itself deep inside her. It had taken Fallon's disgusting actions in the Library to make it resurface and spread itself throughout her body again. And so she had run away from the gloom into the golden light, but it had taken a while for it to feel warm. She had locked herself in a body that possessed only courage, sheer audacity and polite smiles to those that helped her along her way. She didn't really laugh or smile for a long time, she felt as though without Neil, there was no point in a world of happiness.

She was just thinking of going back when she had fallen for that stupid pirate's charm spell and Natsu had saved her. Hearing herself tell him all about the guild that she was planning to join and the world of magic, she began to feel a tiny spark of excitement filter through her body again. It had made her feel amazing, and she knew that she had to keep going, if any just to get one more spark of excitement. So she had said goodbye and went to buy the first magazine she saw that had Fairy Tail on the cover, glad that she no longer had to sneak them into the mansion past her father.

Reading it, she began to giggle as the magazine described their familiar antics and that was when she knew she'd be alright. But then, the fake salamander had captured her and she felt her hopes crash down around her. How could a person from the guild that had been her only reason to smile be so awful? And the tears had rolled down her face in huge droplets as she realised what was going to happen to her, and that it had all been so fucking useless. Obviously, she didn't deserve happiness, seeing as how it always darted away from her just as it was in her reach.

Then Natsu had crashed through the roof and she and him defeated the pirates. And as the guards had come running after them he had grabbed her and taken her away from it all, making her smile and truly laugh for the first time in a long time. It didn't matter if he liked Lisanna, she was content just to be around him and let his smile make her smile. Neil grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face, making her look into his eyes as he did so. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair.

"That's ok Lulu, I guess you actually did move on." He laughed. "Can't wait to meet this guy and make sure he's worthy enough for my favourite girl." His eyes went wide and he coughed and looked away. "That is, if you're still ok with us being friends?"

Lucy felt like her brain had been put in molasses and her IQ had dropped to about one. She couldn't seem to process how fast this conversation was moving. First, Neil told her that he loved her and that he had frozen himself for seven years for her and kissed her. Next thing you knew, he was suddenly telling her that he was fine with the fact that she liked someone else. Had he always had such fast mood swings? A voice in her head told her that she was just miffed that he had gotten over her so fast. Still, something about how fast he had recovered set off alarm bells in her head.

"You look surprised." Neil commented softly, a smirk inching its way across his face. "It's just; I guess I thought that you'd…well…" Lucy trailed off uncertainly, wondering how to voice her concerns without offending Neil. Selfish as it sounded, she still wanted Neil to be her friend. "Fight for you a little bit more?" Neil asked, the smirk now spread fully across his face. Guessing he was right from the look of relief on her face, he placed his hands on her shoulders and let the smirk fall from his face. His black eyes staring into hers like they always had whenever she was upset or unsure of herself. They had been like an anchor that latched on to her and held her in the world whenever she felt like just falling away from it all.

"Don't get me wrong, I still love you. But, since it's been such a long time, I was prepared when I came here to find that your heart belonged to someone else. And I told myself that if that was the case, then I would be fine with just being your friend. But, if you don't think that's a good idea, then just say the word and I will be out of your life forever." Lucy tried to analyze the speech. As far as she could tell he was being truthful, but there was something about it that sounded scripted to her ears. But then again, hadn't he said that he was prepared to find her with someone else? He must have come up with that speech on his way here, and that was why something about it hadn't sounded quite right to her ears.

That was it.

It had to be.

"Of course we can still be friends Neil." She gave him a smile, which he returned before stretching and resting his hands behind him. "So then, tell me about this guy that has captured your interest." Lucy felt all the disappointment and sadness from last night come running back. Neil caught the disappointed look on her face and put two and two together. "Was he the reason you were crying last night?" He murmured softly, just loud enough so that Lucy could hear. She felt sobs begin to rise within he again and she struggled to keep her voice even.

"He… his name is Natsu and…last night, we were having a BBQ party for our guild and there were fireworks at the end. There's this silly legend in our guild that says if you see the fireworks with the person you like then the two of you end up together. He invited me to go see them with him and then he left me, saying that he wanted to get some food. I was feeling a little down because lately I've been missing you, so I was really excited. And then he came back…and he…pretended to be you so that he could get a picture of my surprised face for this album that he and his friend Lisanna, who's practically his girlfriend, are making."

Neil's face contorted with rage momentarily and just for a moment, she thought she saw the wood beneath his fingers turn black. But then he forced down his rage and the wood returned to a normal color. "What a bastard, you can do much better than him Lucy." She sighed and stood up, gazing out the window for a moment before turning her sad eyes towards Neil.

"I know, but I don't want anyone else, I want him." She watched the new birds that had taken residence outside her window just recently. The family of birds that had been there before had moved on before she had come back from Tenrou Island. In their place had come two bright red birds with golden streaks in their feathers. She watched them snuggle up together and found herself missing the familiarity of the family of blue birds. It didn't matter that these new birds were prettier than the old ones, it was the blue birds that she wanted, not them.

Just like her feelings for Natsu.

It didn't matter how many guy flirted with her or asked her out while he remained oblivious. It was him she wanted, not them. It could have been the handsomest, most considerate and caring boy on this planet and she would have picked the blunt, arrogant dolt that had lit up her life. She smiled sadly for a moment before letting out her breath and with it all her sadness.

"But standing here feeling sorry for myself isn't going to solve anything." She brushed a stray hair back behind her ear and beamed enthusiastically at Neil. "So, what would you like for breakfast?" Neil stared at her for a moment before chuckling and standing up as well. "That's my Lulu, never lets anything get her down for too long." He flicked her on the nose and laughed as she grabbed her nose and sent him a pouty glare. Before he could recover from laughing, she reached forward and pinched his cheeks, jumping out of the way before he could get her back. "Hey! Get back here!" He protested and chased her into the kitchen.

"Na-na-na-na-na-na you can't catch me!" She teased him, sticking her tongue out and darting into the living room. She felt like a little kid again. "I beg to differ!" He cried as he followed her into the living room and back into the bedroom. Quickly cutting off her routes of his escape he backed her up against her bed.

"Now, be prepared, this is your punishment for pinching my cheeks for no good reason." He spoke in a solemn voice and waggled his fingers threateningly. A memory fluttered its way through her mind and she remembered what had happened the last time Neil had waggled his fingers. "No! Please! Anything but that!" Lucy cried, panic overflowing from her words. "Hehe, it's too late to beg my dear!" He cackled evilly and tackled her onto the bed before tickling her like crazy. Struggling against him, she started to laugh, which didn't really help her plea to get him off her. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry, just stop!" She cried out between giggles, Neil just smirked and kept on tickling her.

The sound of the window beside the bed being flung open stopped Neil's hands in their tracks and Lucy took the moment to breathe before looking over to the window. Natsu was sitting on her window ledge and just staring at the two of them. Lucy glanced up at Neil and realised immediately what this must look like to Natsu.

Neil had straddled her in an attempt to hold her down while he tickled her and his hands were now resting on either side of her head. Looking to her left shoulder, she saw that her shirt had begun to slip down after running around the apartment and being tackled. She opened her mouth to try and explain to Natsu that it wasn't what it looked like, but was distracted by the fact that fire had already began to curl itself intensely around his body with his eyes blazing with a fire that outmatched even his own.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to my Luce?" His Luce? Since when did she become his Luce? Though part of her was secretly happy that he had called her that, she didn't like to be objectified, she had received enough of that when she was living with her father. "Natsu, this isn't what it looks like-" But it was too late. He punched Neil, sending him flying across the room, before hopping down onto the bed and cracking his knuckles threateningly. He took a step towards Neil but stopped as Lucy attempted to run over to him. Natsu quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him. Lucy tried to struggle away from him, but he gripped her arm tightly. "Natsu! What do you think you're doing?"

His expression contorted as confusion spiced up his enraged face. "What do I think I'm doing? What about you? You run into some stranger on the street last night and you just let him into you're apartment?" His grip on her tightened and she winced as heat began to sear through his skin.

"He's not just some stranger! He's my friend you idiot!" With a well-aimed kick at his unmentionables, Lucy twisted herself free. She ignored Natsu as he doubled over in pain and ran over to where Neil lay groaning on the floor. "Neil! Are you alright?" She asked as she looked him over, making sure that he wasn't hurt. Moaning, he pulled himself up with the help of Lucy and gave her a playful grin before wincing in pain. "Yeah, my head just hurts a bit."

"Stop making Lucy worry over you bastard." Natsu spat out shakily as he straightened up, still not fully recovered from the kick Lucy had given him. "It's her choice whether she worries over me or not." Neil informed Natsu lightly before pulling Lucy into a hug. "Isn't that right, my Lulu?" Natsu growled and clenched his fists so hard that blood began to tickle down from where one of his nails had punctured his skin.

"Let go of her you fucking bastard!" He shot across the room and wrenched Lucy away from Neil's arms. She could feel the blistering waves of heat that Natsu was emitting start to blister her skin. Unless she managed to calm him down quickly, he was going to set her apartment on fire. "Neil, why don't you go for now and I'll catch up with you later, ok?" She suggested cautiously her eyes begging him to listen to her. Neil looked like he was ready to grab her right back from Natsu, but after catching the desperate look in Lucy's eyes he slowly straightened up.

"Alright, make sure you do because you owe me breakfast, an extremely decadent one at that." After catching her eye for a moment to make sure she really did want him to leave, he gave her a wave and headed out the front door, leaving Natsu and Lucy alone. Natsu's grip on Lucy relaxed and she wrenched herself away. "What is your prob-"

Damn could he ever look angry.

His face was a mask of stone but his eyes blazed with such ferocity that if looks could kill she would be burned to a crisp. He hadn't heard her broken sentence, his eyes watching what she could only assume to be the sound of Neil exiting the building. After he was satisfied that he was gone, he focused his attention on Lucy. "So," he said, obviously trying very, very hard to keep his anger in check.

"Who was that?" His voice broke on the last word, allowing some of the malice to float into his voice. Lucy tried to stiffen at his sharp tone, but at the same time she felt rather like crawling under her covers. "He was an old friend of mine, and you didn't have to punch him you know." She said, trying to let some of her own malice enter her voice, but failing rather miserably. He snorted and stepped closer to her, causing her to back up.

"Yeah. Because friends kiss you in your bedroom and pin you to your bed." She felt a blush creep onto her features, how on earth did he find out about the kiss? "For your information, he was tickling me on the bed. Nothing else, I'm not that cheap." She glared at him angrily but still felt as though her fire couldn't quite match up to his. He acknowledged this silently and took a step closer to her, causing her to take another step back.

"What about the kiss?" He asked, his breath so close to her that she could feel in on her cheek. Had he had hot chocolate recently? "I hardly see how that's any of your business." She said quietly, refusing to look him in the eyes. "None of my business?" He hissed disbelievingly and took another step towards her, backing her right up into the wall. She gave a wince of pain at the impact the wall made with her back. Natsu didn't seem to notice in his anger and instead leaned down until their noses were almost touching. The heat that was radiating off him was so strong that it was a wonder that he hadn't burst into flames yet. "You let some random guy come inside your apartment and kiss you and then you tell me that it's none of my business?"

"It's my apartment and my life, so yes, that is none of your business. And why are you so concerned about me? Last night, you didn't give a damn about how I felt." She was beginning to feel that her fire was matching, if not beating the intensity of his. He flinched and his fire flickered for a moment, as though it might go out if she kept pushing. "That's not true!" He protested but was cut off before he could say only thing else from the sharp glint that in Lucy's eyes.

"Oh, so you're saying that it wasn't you that listened in on the story that I was telling to the rest of the girls and then decided it would be funny to take a picture of my face after pretending to be Neil." If possible, she felt that she had grown ten metres taller while he had shrunk eleven. "All for a goddamn photo album that you're making with your little girlfriend Lisanna." The malice that had sunken into her voice scared even her.

"Lisanna's not my girlfriend!" Natsu cried out, as though this was the only part of the story that he objected to. "But you admit that everything else is true right?" Lucy ignored the huge leap in her heart that came from Natsu saying outright that Lisanna wasn't his girlfriend. "Well, yeah…but I didn't know that pretending to be him would make you that upset! Really, I didn't!" Natsu's earnest, well she guessed it was sort of an, apology caused Lucy to hesitate for a moment before delivering her next line. But the memory of the hurt that had consumed her very being last night and the punch that Natsu had given Neil spurred her on.

"Well, that's just too bad for you isn't it?" She playfully ran a finger across her lips and smiled as though she was remembering a particularly pleasant memory. "It's ok though, Neil made it up to me already." She crossed her arms and started to send him a smug look but one glance at his face caused her to drop her façade. Natsu's eyes were dark as though a light had gone out. Suddenly, he slammed his hand on the wall behind her, causing her to jump in shock.

"So he did kiss you. That damn Lion wasn't lying." Loki had told him that she and Neil had been kissing? Oh just wait till that Lion got home, she was going to wring his neck for putting her in this situation. Still, although she's rather die than admit it, the closeness between the two of them was kinda nice. Every time she breathed in she found herself inhaling his wonderful warm and spicy scent. Why was he so angry though? Was he just being an overprotective friend like always? Or was it something else entirely? So many questions circled through her mind, was it alright to entertain the notion that maybe, just maybe, he was angry about seeing her with another guy because he loved her?

"Like I said, it's no business of yours who I kiss or don't kiss Natsu Dragneel." She stated calmly. His eyes narrowed into slits and she began to hear the wall behind her crack under the pressure from his hands. "So he is more than just a friend." She opened her mouth to try and explain that wasn't the case, but her tongue felt like chalk, and for some reason the words that she desperately needed weren't coming to mind at that moment. He took her silence as an indication that he was right and chuckled darkly, his eyes unreadable, as though he had cut off the connection that they had to the rest of him. The silence that settled between them became unbearable for Lucy.

"Natsu, I-" She was cut off as his hands fell from the wall in one swift movement and captured her face before she could even blink. And the next thing she knew, his soft but hot lips were pressed against hers. Eyes widening in surprise, she tried to pull away but Natsu pulled her closer to him and kept on kissing her. As he ran his hands through her blonde hair, she found herself running hers through his and enjoying the sweet taste of his lips. Yup, he definitely had hot chocolate this morning. Her senses had come alive in the way that she knew she had always wanted them to. That kiss with Neil that morning could never compare to this. It was these lips that she'd been longing for, and the feelings that they brought with them were more amazing and spectacular than anything she had ever felt before. It was like fire was running throughout her body, consuming her very being. Needing air, she managed to break away and fill her aching lungs. She glanced over up Natsu, who looked at her for a moment before tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear.

"I won't allow it." He said, almost too quiet for Lucy to catch, as it was, she had to strain her ears quite a bit to hear him. "You're my sunshine, not his." He pulled her into a warm embrace, his strong arms wrapped securely around her. "So _please_, stay with me instead Luce." His warm breath tickled her ear, but this time she wasn't filled with fear that he would leave her. She knew she couldn't shake this dolt even if she wanted to. Once he was serious about something, he never ever gave up until he got his way. "Of course I'll stay with you, you dolt. I love you." Her voice was slightly cracked from the emotions that she felt buzzing through her His eyes widened in surprise and he tightened his grip on her. "Really?" He asked, afraid that it wasn't true.

"Really." Lucy told him, a smile playing on the edges of her lips. Natsu pulled her away from him and looked at her happily, grinning before pulling her back into the hug, sufficiently depleting all the air that she had managed to get from her break. "Natsu, can't breathe!" She managed to choke out and he released her, looking her up and down to make sure she was alright before grinning again. She noticed that he still hadn't let go of her shoulders. "Sorry, but you don't know how long I've been waiting to kiss you." He whispered, his eyes dancing with a whole new kind of fire. She began to blush more furiously than ever before.

"Then why didn't you do it earlier?" She asked, trying to divert attention away from her red cheeks. He shrugged and an almost unnoticeable light pink hue rose in his cheeks. "I was scared that you didn't like me back. I mean, you spent a lot of time around Gray." He said this last part reproachfully, as though it had been her fault that he hadn't got to kiss her earlier. "I couldn't like Gray, Juvia would kill me!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes widening with incredibility that Natsu would even think that.

"Is that the only reason?" He asked grouchily and with a hint of fear, afraid of what she might say. "Nope." She spoke quickly, hoping that this would be enough for Natsu. "What's the other one?" Damn, did he have to be so fucking curious?

She blushed deeper as she worked up the courage to say the next one. "The other one was that I love _you_, you_ baka_." A grin instantly spread across his features and he laughed before poking her red cheeks. When this earned him a pout he just laughed harder. Shaking her head and sighing exasperatedly at his behaviour, she began to wonder why it was she had fallen for such a childish guy. Speaking of which, she wondered what love actually meant to him. If he said they were still just nakama, she was fairly certain that she was actually going to tear out several lumps of hair.

"Does this mean, that you and me are g-g-going o-out now?"

He gave her a strange look and instantly her hopes sank.

"Why would this mean that we would go outside?"

She nearly slapped her forehead. Once a dolt, always a dolt it seemed.

"That's not what I meant! I mean, does this mean that you and me are a couple now?" She asked cautiously, scared that he would suddenly tell her that this was all a joke and Lisanna would pop up with a camera to take a picture of her surprised face.

He gave her another strange look.

"Of course we are weirdo! But first, you have to break up with that guy." His grip on her shoulders tightened at the mention of Neil. This guy could get really jealous sometimes. Forget green eyed monster, try onyx eyed dragon. "Don't worry Natsu. Neil and I aren't going out." She smiled at his confused look.

"But you guys kissed!" She reached up to ruffle his hair and laughed at the adorable look on his face. "He kissed me, and then I told him that I didn't like him. And we agreed to be friends." She lowered her hand and Natsu quickly caught it, interlocking his fingers with hers and giving her a pouty look.

"Just friends?"

Honestly, he was such a kid sometimes.

"Yes Natsu, just friends."

He smiled and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his strong arms around her and inhaling her sweet strawberry scent. "Good." He frowned. "He smelled weird…and…kinda familiar. I don't know him do I?" Lucy shook her head. "No, I knew him before I came to Fairy Tail." She frowned as well. "He smelled weird?" "Yeah, like magnolias and mint." He said, lost in thought, his eyes straying around the room, as though he was following the scent around the house. Lucy pulled away from Natsu's arms and cocked her head at him questioningly. "What's weird about that?"

Natsu appeared to be struggling for the right words to say, which gave Lucy a bad feeling. Normally, he just blurted out whatever was on his mind and the fact that he was actually thinking over his words meant that he had either had a personality transplant overnight or he was actually really concerned about Neil's scent. "It was like…his scent was like magnolia and mint but at the same time it wasn't his scent. It was almost like he was trying to hide his true scent."

Lucy mulled this over in her head and the memory of Neil telling her how he had managed to stay the same way that he had for seven years popped up. Suddenly, she realised that his story had quite a few loopholes that she would have to ask him about next time she saw him. And the way that, even after telling her that he had frozen himself for seven years for her, he had let her go so easily. Would she be able to just stay friends with Natsu if she had frozen herself for seven years out of love for him and then found out that he and Lisanna had gotten married? Something just didn't quite add up and she felt dread begin to pool in her stomach, but some reason she just couldn't get the pieces of the puzzle to fit together in any way.

"Huh, well, next time I see him, I'll ask him about it, ok?" She almost burst into laughter at the look on his face. "You're going to see him again?"

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><p>After explaining to Natsu that people who agree to stay friends have to see each other now and then, he had sulked the whole time she had made breakfast. Before heading out, he grudgingly told her that she could go see Neil if she let him tag along with her. "Natsu, being in a relationship is about trust. You can't be with that person every second of every day. You have to trust that when you're not with them, they'll stay true to you." She told him as they walked through the mid-morning air towards the guild.<p>

"I do trust you Luce; it's him I don't trust." Natsu snarled at the word, as though even the thought of Neil left a bitter taste in his mouth. Lucy sighed and took Natsu's hand in hers. "Don't worry, I promise that if he even takes one long at my lips, I'll kick him right to Edolas." She tried to ignore the fact that his face lit up with pleasure at the idea of sending Neil to Edolas. Before he could ask, she stated in a clear voice: "And no, we cannot kick him there beforehand." She had to look the other way so he wouldn't see her twitching mouth as his face fell almost instantly.

As they began to approach the guild, she started to release her grip on his hand but Natsu tightened his grip on her almost immediately. Turning back towards him, she raised her eyebrow. He shot her an almost pleading look. "Just keep holding my hand until they calm down ok? Maybe if you're there, Erza, Mirajane and Levy won't try and kill me for smashing up the bar." "You smashed up the bar?" Lucy asked incredulously, her overactive imagination spinning out images of what Erza and Mirajane had looked like.

He nodded his head sheepishly.

"Yeah…" She shook her head. "I'm not even going to ask." She frowned. "Scratch that. I understand why Erza and Mirajane would be mad at you, but why would Levy try to-" She stopped walking, jolting Natsu to a stop with her. "You threw Gajeel into the bar didn't you?" From the look on Natsu's face, she had guessed right. She felt a bead of sweat run down her face; even her overactive imagination couldn't predict what Levy would do when they got into the guild.

Which was now right in front of them.

Oh what perfect timing they had.

"You know, we could still make a break for it." Natsu suggested timidly. Lucy swallowed hard and shot Natsu a shaky smile. "You have to face them sooner or later. And besides, what's the worst that can happe-" "Lu-chan!"

The guild doors swung open, the force knocking Lucy and Natsu to the ground. Levy shot through the doors and threw herself at Lucy, wrapping her petite arms around Lucy's curvy frame. "Why did you leave so early last night? We've been so worried!" Levy's face was hidden in Lucy's chest, so it took Lucy a moment to figure out whether she was crying or laughing. When she finally raised her face, Lucy realised that it was a little bit of both. Her eyes were swimming with tears but the she had the hugest, brightest smile on her face. Lucy felt her own face relax into a soft smile at Levy's beautiful one. She raised her hand and stroked Levy's head gently. "I'm sorry Levy, I was just a little bit upset over something, but I'm fine now."

As Levy began to cry harder, the rest of the guild poured out of the doors and ran to Lucy to check that she was alright. She found herself laughing in just a few moments and began to feel a familiar warmth spread through her. This was her real home, her real family and she felt sorry for making them worry so much about her.

Lucy glanced over at Natsu and realised that they were still holding hands. He sent her a shaky grin and she realised how pale his face was. The poor dolt was scared stiff of what was going to happen to him next. She squeezed his hand and sent him a reassuring look. This caused his face to regain color and a grin to spread across his face.

However, it didn't last too long.

"NATSU!

* * *

><p>A pair of coal black eyes studied the scene before him. The fools of that idiotic guild Fairy Tail encompassed her, which would have cut off his view from her beautiful face if he didn't have the ability to make everyone else in his vision from fade away. Her beautiful blonde hair shone in the sunlight, light glinting off her perfect teeth as she laughed at Natsu getting beat up by Erza and Mirajane. But when he suddenly fell over in what could only be assumed to be a dead faint, she dropped her smile and ran to him as fast as she could. When she was close enough to him, he shot up and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her luscious body. She yelled at him for making her worry but he just laughed and clutched her tighter to him. She sighed, but he could see the smile that was making its way across her face.<p>

He hated it.

But he couldn't deal with him like he had dealt with Fallon. That had been too quick and too painless. No, here he had to cautious and make sure to draw it out a bit more.

Fallon.

He hadn't thought that she would bring him up. It was lucky that he learned to mask his real feelings almost perfectly. He hadn't meant to but, after leaving that place secretly and making his way to Fairy Tail the long way, he had run into the bastard at a tavern in another town. The guy had been boasting on how he'd almost had the beautiful Lucy Heartfilia for his own. As Fallon began to describe what he had done to the rest of the despicable scum in the Tavern, he had lost it and the result had been Fallon lying on the floor on the Tavern with his horrible ice blue eyes no longer able to frighten anyone anymore. He had paid someone to tell the news that he had actually died during the time the Fairy Tail members had been on Tenrou Island and had continued to make his way to Fairy Tail, ignoring the pain and guilt that had swarmed him over extinguishing another precious life.

He had known that she had fallen for Natsu, and he had wanted to snatch her up right then and there. But then an idea had struck him, if they weren't already together when he arrived, he would let Natsu get a small taste of what could never be his and then he would snatch her away from him. A smile began to creep across his face as he imagined the expression that Natsu would make when he took what was rightfully his from him. It was punishment for failing in his mission and making him leave his beautiful golden haired girl alone in the cruel world. And, he told himself, he was also to blame for what Fallon had done to Lucy. If he had done what that damn woman and damn dragon had said he would, then he wouldn't be standing here now.

Of course, they were to blame as well. They had told him that she would be alright if he left her, that nothing would happen to her when he was gone.

Liars.

He would have killed the woman when he got back if she hadn't died all those years ago. And as for the dragon, it seemed to have gone into hiding and no matter how hard he searched for it he couldn't find it.

Still, he hadn't expected her to fall so fully in love with bastard. It would take some fine trickery to get her far enough away from this place for his plan to work.

But he could do it.

She was ai after all and he needed her to balance himself out.

He watched her for a moment more before walking away, whistling an eerie tune as he went.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey all! :D**

**So, it's been a while since I updated and that was because, I was unsure of what this next chapter should or should not contain. But I finally managed to figure it out in the end. :) Thank-you for all your lovely reveiws! They really inspired me. I probably should've let you know this in the last chapter ( I didn't want to spoil it for you guys sorry!) but "Ai" is a japanese word meaning love. And I did not make any typos where that sentece was concerned so you'll just have to figure out the meaning on your own. ;) Thank-you for reading my story!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the song.**

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><p>Lucy watched the antics of the guild with an amused smile on her face. Upon finding out that she was alright they had decided to throw a party for her. The air was filled with the noisy clinking of beer mugs, loud music and the yells of guild member picking fights with one another or just talking. Levy was beside her, sipping happily away on her strawberry lemonade. Lucy's was beside her, untouched for the moment as she watched Natsu, wondering how someone so violent could be so gentle when kissing.<p>

"Lu-chan!" Levy's voice tugged her gaze away from him and into the mischievous eyes of her friend. "You really love him don't you?" Lucy blushed instantly. "Yeah." She confessed awkwardly. A thought occurred to her and her blush was replaced by a frown. "Is it weird to be so in love somebody that you've only known for a few years?" Levy appeared to have to think about it for a while, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the matter.

"Hmm…no, I think that how fast you fall in love just depends on who you are, you know? I mean, there are people who take a long time to fall in love and then there are people who can just lose their heart at a glance." She opened her eyes and smiled at Lucy brightly. Lucy thought about Levy's words for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I guess that's true." She took a sip of her strawberry lemonade and enjoyed the sweet taste along with the texture of the crushed strawberries at the bottom. Another though occurred to her and she hurried to put her glass down so she could express it. "Speaking of love, how come you didn't maliciously destroy Natsu for throwing yours into the bar?"

Levy looked at her for a moment in confusion before the memory arose and swam to the surface of her mind. Recollection flooded her face and she shrugged before taking another sip of her drink. "I must have forgotten about it. To be honest, I was more concerned about you. You seemed really upset last night and I was worried that you might do something really stupid." Upon much insistence, Lucy had related the events of what had happened the previous night and that morning to all the female guild members. Though, she had omitted the part where she had talked to Neil about Fallon. She didn't feel like bringing something so heavy up in the middle of the party, seeing as how disastrous it had been last time. Fallon's actions had left a dark imprint that had yet to be erased by her guild's warm light.

She would tell them…when she was ready.

In retrospect, it probably hadn't been the best idea to explain what had made her so upset at the BBQ. If she hadn't stopped her, Erza would have let an angry mob of girls to attack Natsu. And Lucy didn't feel like losing him just when the dolt had finally told her that he liked her. Lisanna had apologized as well, believing that she had a part to play in it too by telling Natsu that it would be a good present for Lucy when he finally confessed. Lucy had forgiven her, glad that Lisanna seemed perfectly fine with her and Natsu dating, and Lisanna had enveloped Lucy in a huge hug before running off to congratulate Natsu.

"Luckily though, Neil found you and took you inside." Levy's voice once again broke Lucy out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about that." Lucy said quietly, swishing her drink around as she recalled Neil's sketchy story and Natsu telling her that he thought Neil had been trying to disguise his scent.

Levy frowned.

"Why?" Her eyes were already beginning to flood with worry. Lucy hesitated for a moment, unsure how to tell Levy without her freaking out, before continuing cautiously. "Natsu thinks that Neil is trying to hide his true scent. He was really serious about it, and I think it kind of had him worried." Levy relaxed and sipped her drink again. "Oh, he's probably just being over protective, trying to convince you not to see him again. I mean, from what you said, he was pretty jealous when he saw you two together." Lucy nodded uncertainty, not convinced that was entirely the case. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Levy watched Lucy for a moment before putting down her drink and grabbing Lucy's arm.

"Levy! What are you-?"

"C'mon Lu-chan! Let's dance!"

Overpowered by Levy's enthusiasm, Lucy found herself unable to say no. A smile crept onto her face and she found herself laughing at the craziness of her guild and family. And she felt the warmth spread itself through her again as she wondered what she had ever done to deserve such wonderful people in her life.

* * *

><p>A very tired Lucy made her way through the dark streets of Magnolia towards her apartment, muscles sore from all the dancing and partying at the guild. She was yawning and marveling at how tired a single Fairy Tail party could make her feel when a melody began to fill the air.<p>

At first it was just faint notes that hummed softly in the night air and then it became louder, making Lucy think that she was getting closer to the source. But even when the music stopped getting louder and instead just seemed to fill the air around her, she couldn't seem to locate the source.

A twinge of nervousness pulled at her gut and she found herself carefully scanning the area to make sure that she really couldn't see anything. Every hair on her body stood up when she began to hear words among the notes.

_**Sweet dreams are made of these**_

_Images of dark woods flooded Lucy's mind, a sense of urgency and danger overflowing from them._

_**Who am I to disagree?**_

_The woods were flashing by, the trees nothing but a green blur. Lucy could hear a heavy breathing and a baby's cries. And only a short distance behind them, the howl of wolves. _

_**Travel the world and the seven seas**_

_A bark came before a howl of pain that intermingled with the howling of wolfs. The sensation of falling hit Lucy. A stream of liquid hit Lucy and for a moment a shirt that looked like it had been painted blood red filled her vision._

_**Everybody's looking for something**_

_A blast of light and a whimper of pain came before she felt herself being lifted up as the trees turned into green blurs again. But they weren't as blurry as before, and the breathing had become heavier_

_**Some of them want to use you**_

_A flickering light began to come into Lucy's vision and the heavy breathing was broken momentarily by a cry of relief. The green blurs disappeared and so did the utter darkness. Undecipherable yells and shouts filled Lucy's ears along with the sound of people running towards her. _

_**Some of them want to get used by you**_

_The heavy breathing hitched and the sensation of falling returned before a bump jarred her. The breathing was quieter now, but there wasn't as much of it anymore. A soft hand caressed Lucy's face, leaving something wet after it was gone. Bright green eyes met hers and a voice began to murmur softly to her. _

_**Some of them want to abuse you**_

"_My precious…precious…baby," The voice panted. "I can…see that you're going to be…so kind and…so brave and…so loving. But, if you're…anything like…me, you're going…to be…stubborn as well. So…try not to… let it get the best… of you." The voice tried to chuckle but it didn't sound right. "Like…I did."_

_**Some of them want to be abused**_

"_I…love…you…so…much." The voice seemed to be struggling to say what it needed to say in time. The green eyes were staring intently into hers, begging her to understand. A sense of uncontrollable loss was filling Lucy, and she couldn't understand why. "And…you…have…to…under…stand…its…not…your…fault…and…" The voice trailed off and the green eyes fell from Lucy's sight. She cried out, not wanting them to disappear, and the baby cried out as well._

"_Gomenasai…"_

"_Aiko." _

"Lucy!"

Lucy's eyes snapped open and for the second time in two days met worried onyx ones that were hovering over her. Raising her hand to her face, she felt the place where the hand had touched her face and found only tear tracks. "Luce what happened?" She stared at Natsu for a moment, lost in the images that had flooded her mind while she was walking home. Those eyes, and that voice, they had belonged to a woman, hadn't they? She had been talking to a baby, a baby named…Aiko? But where had the baby been? She hadn't seen it, but it had always seemed close by, judging by how loud its cries had been. And if the woman had been talking to Aiko then why had it seemed like she had been looking at her the whole time? Why had she stroked Lucy's cheek? She just…she didn't understand. Why had the woman been running? What had happened to her? _What the hell was going on? _"Luce, what's going on?" "I don't know! I was just walking home and then all of a sudden this music started and I tried to look for where it was coming from but I couldn't find it and then I started seeing the woman running through a forest and there these wolves howling and then she fell and there was this baby crying and then there was all this blood and a white light and then she was running again and then there was all these lights, it must've been a town, and then she just dropped and she was talking to her baby and telling her that she loved her and then she just-just-just-died!" Her hands were clutching at her face as though that would help ward off the images. She was breathing rapidly with her breath coming in huge gasps "Shhh, Luce its ok I'm here." Natsu lay down on the bed beside Lucy and wrapped his arms around her. Lucy felt her hands grabbing his arm, the skin turning white from how tight she was holding on. "Luce, you have to stop breathing so hard, it's not good for you." Lucy tried hard to calm down, but it still took about an hour and a half for her breathing to return to normal. All the while, Natsu just kept stroking her hair and whispering that everything was going to be alright. As she began to breathe normally again, her eyelids became heavy and exhaustion took over her body, silently and slowly sending her away to sleep.

Natsu ran up the dark streets of Magnolia after Lucy, who had left before he could get a chance to ask her if he could sleep in her bed that night. He figured that since they were a couple maybe she wouldn't kick him out in the morning when she realised that he had snuck in during the night. He was enjoying the idea of sleeping in Lucy's warm, comfy bed with her next to him. Maybe now, he wouldn't have to wake up extra early to make sure that she hadn't noticed that he had wrapped his arm around her during the night.

Happy had gone home with Wendy and Carla so, if she didn't say he could stay, he would probably just sneak in through the window like he normally did. He didn't like being alone, it reminded him of when Igneel had left him.

This train of thought was halted in its tracks as cries ripped through the air.

It was Lucy.

Natsu broke into frenzied run and found Lucy slumped over on the ground gripping her head. Her face was deathly pale and her eyes were wide open, but she didn't acknowledge his arrival. It was as though she couldn't see him, her eyes focused on something that he couldn't see. Whatever it was that she was seeing was terrifying her. And the fact that he couldn't see it and didn't know how to help her was terrifying him. He reached down and shook her shoulders a little bit too hard. "Lucy! Lucy! Wake up!" Tear ran unchecked down the side of her face and her eyelids fell closed. Fear froze him for a moment before panic came along and melted him again. He had to get her to open her eyes, he just had to! "Lucy!" He looked desperately around the street, hoping that someone would come and help him but the street remained empty. What could he do? He had to help her, but how did he do that? Why the hell wasn't she waking up? What if she- No. He refused to acknowledge the last part of that thought. But where could he take her?

The Guild?

No, the last of the guild members had left when he left.

His apartment?

No, it was way too far away.

The hospital?

No, the ward for wizards had closed down after Magnolia's new guild had built its own infirmary. And they wouldn't accept her unless she had serious medical wounds.

Her apartment?

Her apartment could work; she had food in her fridge and a first aid kit in her bathroom. Yes, he would take her there! Carefully gathering her up in his arms bridal style, he clutched her close to his chest and took off towards her apartment, the buildings blurring as they ran. After a few moments they arrived at her apartment. He kicked the first door open before running up the stairs and kicking open the door to her actual apartment. Darting into the room, he laid Lucy down on the bed and was wondering what to do next when she moaned and her eyes fluttered slightly. His heart leaped for a moment and he put his hands on either side of her before calling out her name. "Lucy!" Her eyes shot open and the look that she sent him took him completely aback. Her eyes had a frenzied gleam that told him that she was not quite herself at the moment. She raised a pale hand and touched the place where the tears had run down her cheeks. Natsu was really worried, what could have happened to her to put her in this state? "Luce what happened?" Natsu regretted asking the question instantly. Her eyes grew distant and wide, as though she was beginning to see it all again. fear and worry filled him again and he hated how powerless he was to stop it all. If only he knew what it was that had done this to her! "Luce, what's going on?" She exploded into explanation instantly, not pausing for a breath until she was finished. "I don't know! I was just walking home and then all of a sudden this music started and I tried to look for where it was coming from but I couldn't find it and then I started seeing the woman running through a forest and there these wolves howling and then she fell and there was this baby crying and then there was all this blood and a white light and then she was running again and then there was all these lights, it must've been a town, and then she just dropped and she was talking to her baby and telling her that she loved her and then she just-just-just-died!" Her hands were clutching her face so hard that Natsu worried that she was going hurt herself. And she had started to breathe in huge gasps that couldn't be good for her. He had to calm her down. "Shhh, Luce its ok I'm here." Maneuvering to the other side of the bed, Natsu lay down and wrapped his arms around Lucy. He noticed that she was shaking slightly and tightened his grip on her. She didn't seem to notice his arms for a few minutes. But then she grasped his arm so tight that the skin started to turn white. It pinched a bit, but it didn't hurt that much. He noticed that she had stopped shaking but her breathe was still coming in huge gasps. "Luce, you have to stop breathing so hard, it's not good for you." He listened quietly as her breaths slowly turned back to normal. After he was sure that her breathing was completely back to normal, he glanced at her face and saw that she had fallen asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, he watched her face for a few moments before closing his eyes as well.

* * *

><p><em>A girl, that could only be seventeen or eighteen, stood at a stone well, outside the village where she lived, humming quietly to herself. She wore a long pink dress with pockets at the sides that had been given to her by Ankoku-sama, the woman that she lived with and the town's healer. <em>

_"Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree?" She sang softly. "__Travel the world and the seven seas, everybody's looking for something. __Some of them want to use you.__ Some of them want to get used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused." _

_The tune had never been taught to her, it was just something that she had always known. It was strange, but she often found herself singing it absentmindedly. She tried to sing it out of reach of Ankoku-sama though, because for some reason she got very, very angry if she caught her singing it. _

_"Aiko!" Aiko turned around from the well to see the pink-haired Tatsuo running towards her. She raised her hand to stop him, but it was too late. He jumped on her and knocked her to the ground, spilling the water in the bucket back into the well. "Tatsuo!" Aiko cried out angrily, but at the same time she was fighting back a blush caused by the position they were in. _

_"Sorry Aiko, I just couldn't help it, it's been forever since I've seen you!" He twirled some of her blonde hair around his finger and laughed at her face. He had pinned her to the ground, hovering over her while she lay helpless on the ground. "That's no excuse to just go and jump on someone!" She protested, the blush growing deeper. _

_"Even if it's someone that you love?" _

_Before she could protest, his lips had captured hers in a fiery embrace. She found herself kissing him back before she could help herself. After all, she had missed him as well. He had been gone on a long training trip with Igneel-sama for the past four months while she stayed at home with Ankoku-sama and learned all the how to call on the stellar spirits from the celestial realm and borrow their powers. _

_The old woman had been as cold to Aiko as she always was, ignoring her questions and instead just piling information on her and expecting her to be able to learn it in mere seconds. She knew the basics of course: Stellar Spirits resided in the Celestial Realm, they could be called on by using keys to connect to open their gates and that there was only one golden key for each of the twelve zodiac spirits but the minor spirits had multiple keys that could be bought everywhere. _

_Though the spirits let the Celestial Wizards use their powers, the spirits themselves preferred to stay in the safety of the Celestial Realm. She didn't really think that was right. In her mind, she would prefer it if she and her celestial spirits fought side by side. Not just give her their powers and leave her to fight on her own. Still, she couldn't exactly complain, they were letting her use their powers after all._

_ Ankoku-sama had all twelve golden keys and a key for each minor spirit in the sky. She had entrusted Aiko with only five of the minor keys, which was rather stingy of her but she knew if she complained, she'd end up with none at all. __ Her chocolate brown eyes opened as Tatsuo pulled away for breath, his onyx eyes sparkling with happiness. He sighed heavily and rolled over so he was lying next to Aiko. _

_"God, I missed being able to do that." Aiko blushed and hit him over the head. "Oh, I'm sure you have fun learning all sorts of new dragon-slaying techniques." She rolled her eyes. "You must be dying to have a battle with Yuki. That is, if you haven't already." _ _He laughed heartily, the beautiful sound filling the surrounding air. "I ran into him on the way over here and beat him no problem." He stretched out his arms and grinned at her. _

_"I'll bet Nerine wasn't happy with you about that." _

_His smile fell almost immediately. _

_"If she asks, you didn't see me ok?" Aiko laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek. " Hmm…ok you baka." _ _He raised his hand towards her face and she felt her heart pound in her chest. He smirked slightly, the only obvious sign that he had heard it, and drew her face closer to his. "You know," His murmured quietly, his breath tickling her cheek. "I really, really missed you." She closed his eyes and his lips drew closer and waited for them to meet hers once again. _

_Suddenly, shouts and screams erupted from the direction of the village. Aiko's eyes flew open and met Tatsuo's equally wide ones. Aiko shot up and pushed herself to her feet before taking off towards the village, Tatsuo hot on her heels. "Aiko! Go home! I'll meet up with you there!" He called out, but she could tell from the tone in his voice that he already knew she wouldn't listen. _

_She still snorted. _

_"Like hell I will!"_

_ Reaching the part of the village where the screams had come from, Aiko turned the corner and took in the scene before her. She stumbled backwards and covered her mouth in horror. Leia and Lani, Tatsuo's two sisters, were being held by two huge, muscled men. The men were obviously highly paid for their dirty work as they had a very ornately designed carriage behind them. The villagers at the front were hammering on what at first appeared to be thin-air. But when Aiko looked closer she could tell from a shimmering in the air that it must be a barrier. _

_So they were mages as well. _

_This was not good._

_The men were holding knives to the girl's throats and leering at the rest of the powerless villages. At the front of the line were Tatsuo's mother and father, begging for the girls to be let go. Ankoku-sama was holding Tatsuo's mother up and demanding that the girls be let go. Tetsu, Tatsuo's brother, was being held back only by Aiko's short, blue hair friend (and Tetsu's girlfriend) Blythe. Nerine was sobbing for the girl's release with other girls from the village while Yuki gripped her hand tightly. The men just sneered at their futile attempts. _

_"We've come looking for the dragon-slayer Tatsuo Dragoneel, give us him and we'll return these two girls unharmed." When the rest of the villagers glowered at them, the one holding Lani laughed. "Hey, don't take it personally, we're just doing our job." He flashed the symbol on his left arm and Aiko recognized it from the flyers that the rune guards had been handing out. These men were from a new dark guild called Shadow-Spear. The council had wanted this guild especially because they suspected them to be in league with Zeref. _

_Zeref. _

_The mere thought of the "death mage" sent shivers down her spine. He was said to be responsible for millions of deaths throughout the whole kingdom and the scariest thing was that the council had no idea what he looked like or any clue to his current whereabouts. The idea that Zeref had sent these men to take Tatsuo away gripped her heart in a metal vice ad left her short of breath. _

_"Alright." Aiko swerved around to find Tatsuo staring straight ahead at the two men. All happiness and joy had been replaced by a grave severity and behind that, worry. Aiko felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of Tatsuo going near those dangerous men, and an image of a giant shadowy Zeref scooping him up and extinguishing his life in an instant petrified her. But she knew she couldn't stop him, they had his sisters and Tatsuo would lay his life down for his loved ones. She also knew that it was their only chance. If he could just pass through the barrier, then he could defeat those men no problem. Catching her eye for a brief second, he sent her a reassuring look before starting to walk towards the men. _

_"Who's that?" Asked the man that was holding Lani by her long blue hair. Tatsuo raised his eyebrow at them and Aiko felt disbelief flood through her. These men had come for Tatsuo and they had no idea what he looked like? How stupid did you have to be to take a job where you didn't know the person that you were supposed to be capturing? "I'm Tatsuo Drago-" "Not you, dumbass." Snarled the man that was holding Leia's short silver hair. He jerked his knife at Aiko. "He, meant her."_

_ Aiko felt her heart stop momentarily as the thought of walking over to those men on her own scared the hell out of her. Tatsuo growled and stepped in front of Aiko to block her from view. The two men looked at each other thoughtfully, an evil grin beginning to spread across their faces. "She would fetch a bigger price with her body then his bounty reward." The one holding Lani whispered. Aiko gave a small strangled whimper and Tatsuo's fists clenched, fire beginning to curl around his legs__. The man holding Leia noticed this and smirked cruelly. He cleared his throat and spoke. _

_"Change of plans, we'll let these two little girls go if you give us her." "No!" Tatsuo snarled viciously at the two men, the fire starting to consume his entire body. Aiko peered through the crack in his arm at the two men and the tears of pain that were beginning to form in Lani and Leia's eyes. They had to get through the barrier, if she could just get through the barrier, then she could find some way to break it and let the others get through. She knew what she had to do, even if it meant getting near the reach of those evil men and possibly Zeref. _

_Because, in a way, she was really similar to Tatsuo in that she wouldn't hesitate to lay down her life for the people that she loved. And Lani and Leia, with their sweetness and innocence, defiantly fell under her category of people that she loved. _

_All of the villagers did._

_ But, knowing Tatsuo, he wouldn't let her go even if she could explain her logic behind it without the two men hearing them. Reaching into the pocket of her dress, she drew out a silver key with handcuffs etched into it. She opened her eyes and extended her arm in front of her as a golden glow began to form around her body. Tatsuo noticed the glow and turned around to face her, anger blazing in his eyes. _

_"Aiko, what are you doing?" She swallowed and silently begged him to forgive her. "I am connected with the path to the spirit world." Panic sparked in his eyes as he realised what she was about to do. "Aiko, stop it!" The light grew brighter around her, causing Tatsuo to cover his eyes and stumble back. "Heed my call and lend me your power, Andromeda." Tatsuo ran towards her and tried to reach out his hands to stop her, but was too late. _

_"Come forth, Andromeda's chains." She whispered softly. Silver chains formed around Tatsuo's wrist and chained him to the ground.  
>"Let me go!" He yelled and began trying to melt them. Aiko stepped around him and walked past the villagers that had become her family over the years.<br>"Aiko! Aiko, don't you dare do this!" Tatsuo yelled after her. "Aiko! Damn it Aiko, get these fucking chains off me! Aiko!"_

_Quickly, she made her way through the stunned villagers so that by the time that they recovered it would be too late to stop her. She passed Ankoku-sama but didn't meet her eyes, scared that if she did she would be only be met by disappointment. She was scared that, even if Ankoku-sama thought this would be the last time she would ever see her, she would still look at her with the same cold eyes as ever. She knew that Ankoku-sama hadn't forgiven her for what had happened to her mother and Ankoku-sama's daughter. _

_**"What happened to my mother?" **_  
><em><strong>"She died a long time ago." <strong>_  
><em><strong>"How?"<strong> _

_She stepped through the barrier and stopped in front of the two men who smiled lecherously at her. Now that she was closer to them, she could see just how ugly they were. Covered in scars with unshaven faces and dirty brown hair, the two were obviously brothers. The only difference that Aiko see between the two was their eyes. The one holding Lani had bright green eyes and the one holding Leia had bright blue eyes. _

_**"She was attacked by wolves."  
>"Why was she attacked by wolves?"<br>"She was journeying back to the village late at night for some reason and stumbled upon them by accident." "  
>Why was she-?"<br>"Stop bothering me if all you've got to ask are redundant questions." **_

_"You're a celestial wizard eh?" The one holding Lani dropped her and grabbed Aiko instead, dragging her back to the present. Now was not the time to be dozing off in her thoughts! "Don't try anything funny on us, alright bitch?" His cold eyes bored in Aiko's. Aiko winced in pain at his tight grasp and turned to make sure that Lani and Leia were back with their mother and father. She smiled in relief at seeing the two being embraced by their parents before her arms were twisted behind her back._

_**Now **_

_She severed her connection to Andromeda and kicked the green eyed man in the knee, wrenching herself away as he howled in pain. She drew out another key from her pocket and thrust it out in front of her.  
><em>_"I am connected with the path to the spirit world! The blue eyed man lunged towards her, but she managed to dart out of the way at the last minute, his huge hands just missing her slender arms.  
>"Heed my call and lend me your power!" The man that she had kicked growled and shot what looked like a beam of darkness at her. She threw herself to the ground and bit back her cry of pain as her shoulder hit a sharp rock.<br>"Open, gate of the sea serpent! Hy-"_

_ A sharp kick to the stomach cut off the rest of her incantation and made her cry out in pain. The blue eyed man grinned evilly and pulled her to feet by her hair, savouring her scream of pain.  
>"Didn't my bro tell you now to pull anything funny?" He spoke nonchalantly, but his grip of her hair tightened considerably on each word.<br>"Don't touch her you bastard!" Tatsuo howled as he punched the barrier repeatedly. He must have run straight there after Andromeda's chains disappeared. But she couldn't think about him, she had to figure out how she was going to get out of this. Unless the villagers managed to break through the barrier before these despicable men made their getaway, she was on her own. _

_**What do I do?** Aiko thought desperately._

_Before she could figure out what she was going to do, the man holding her hair was blown back by a huge blast of energy. He did a black flip in the air and landed on his feet several yards away from Aiko. She felt herself begin to fall before she was caught by a pair of strong, pale hands.  
>"What are you doing here?" The green eyes man gasped out in shock, his face as pale as the strong hands that held her. "Just passing through." An amused man's voice came from behind Aiko. "<br>Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll be leaving this town and never coming back." The voice didn't take on a hard edge but for some reason the sound of it made Aiko shiver unconsciously._

_ The two men looked terrified and remained frozen to where they stood for a few moments before the other blue eyed turned to his brother.  
>"Let's get out of here." His voice was cold, but traces of fear still cracked through it. His brother simply nodded and they took off like lightning bolts towards their carriage. They were gone in a cloud of dust and a rattle of wheels before Aiko could blink. Relief flooded her and she twisted around to thank her saviour. Chocolate eyes met coal black ones as she took in his muscled chest and short black hair.<em>_ What relief she had felt before fled from her at the sight of this man and left a cold pit of terror in her stomach. _

_"T-t-thank-you for saving me, who are you?" She managed to choke out her thanks despite her terror as the barrier separating the two of them from the rest of villagers came down around them. He smiled at her and showed gleaming white teeth.  
>"My name is Katsu. And it was my pleasure."<br>Aiko couldn't explain why, this man seemed nice enough, but every hair on her body stood up. She was spared from having to say anything else though, because at that moment Tatsuo grabbed her from Katsu's arms. _

_"What the hell were you thinking you idiot?" He roared at her, anger and relief pouring out from every inch of him. Without waiting for her reply, he brought her into a bone crushing hug.  
>"I thought I was going to lose you." She could feel his body shaking as he held her.<br>"Don't ever do that again!" His voice broke on the last word and she felt a twinge of guilt shoot through her. _

_Wrapping her arms around him to stop his shaking, she leaned up and whispered softly into his left ear:  
>"Gomenasai Tatsuo. But you don't have to worry, I'm here and I promise that I won't be leaving you for a very long time." She pulled away from him and smiled softly. Tatsuo still gripped her shoulders tightly, a sign that he was still scared of letting her get too far away.<em>

_"Pardon me." _

_The two turned to see Katsu standing there. Aiko immediately blushed and Tatsuo pulled her closer to him. Glancing at him, she could see the uneasiness in his eyes and she guessed that something about Katsu seemed off to him too. If Katsu noticed this, he gave no sign of it and simply smiled at Tatsuo kindly.  
>"I'm Katsu, nice to meet you." <em>

_Tatsuo nodded and removed his hand from Aiko's shoulder to shake Katsu's hand before quickly replacing it.  
>"I'm Tatsuo, thanks for saving Aiko."<br>Katsu grinned and Aiko tried to figure out why such an innocent action made her hands start to shake. "It was no trouble at all, I was glad to help out." Tatsuo removed his hands from Aiko's shoulders and gripped her shaking hands, hiding them from view and lessening the shaking a bit. He tried to smile at Katsu. _

_"Well, thanks all the same." Katsu shifted his gaze to Aiko and caught her eyes in his.  
>"You are <em>very_ welcome." Tatsuo shifted his position so their eye contact was broken off and Katsu looked at him again. "Is there a place I can stay in this village?" He inquired quietly.  
>"Are you sure want to stay here? There are lots of other villages in the area."<br>Tatsuo's voice hid a barely disguised plea for him to go to another village instead. But Katsu, once again, did not choose to pick up on this subtly and instead allowed his smile to widen._

_ "No, for some reason, I really like this place." His eyes seemed to find Aiko again and travelled up and down her body quite obviously, as though he was undressing her with his eyes. This caused Tatsuo to growl softly and he moved so that Aiko was completely blocked from Katsu's view. When he spoke again, all former civility have been dropped entirely.  
>"I don't think it's such a good-"<br>"Did I hear that you want to stay here?" _

_Blythe's cheerful voice interrupted Tatsuo. She had made her way over to the group with the intent of thanking Katsu for saving Aiko and had been close enough to catch his question about a place to stay in the village. She turned to him and beamed at Katsu sweetly.  
>"My mom owns a guest house at the edge of our property. As thanks for saving Aiko, I'm sure she'd let you stay for free." She turned and took a few steps forward before looking back to Katsu. "If you follow me, I'll take you right to her and you can ask her yourself." <em>

_Katsu smiled and started to follow after Blythe. He stopped and turned around before waving goodbye to Aiko and Tatsuo. His eyes met Aiko's and she felt as though they were piercing her very soul, looking at regions that she didn't know existed. It was almost as though Katsu knew her better than she knew herself. _

_Tatsuo blocked her from view again and sent Katsu a scary look which was, unfortunately, not received as Katsu had already begun jogging after Blythe again. As she watched them walk away, she couldn't help but think that they were making a very, very big mistake in letting him stay in their village. _

_She just didn't know why._

* * *

><p><em>Blood.<em>

_Why was there so much blood?_

_It covered her dress, staining the pure white red forever._

_It was all over her hands._

_There were traces on her face._

_It tainted the tips of her hair._

_She felt it trickle down her legs._

_There was too much of it._

_She hadn't thought that a person could bleed this much._

_There was way too much of it._

_She knew that._

_You couldn't bleed this much and live._

_There was no way._

_And it still poured out._

_Why wouldn't it stop?_

"_Aiko." A voice whispered. _

His_ voice._

_She turned and looked into his onyx eyes, feeling the tears begin to pool in her own. They ran down her face and mingled with the rain that fell in a heavy stream. Her hair clung to the sides of her face, her back, and her chest. Off to the side, she could see Yuki and Nerine lying hand in hand, unconscious and badly hurt with their breathing beginning to slow. Tetsu and Blythe were lying in a pool of blood with their arms wrapped around each other stiffly. Their breath had left them a while ago. _

_And him. _

_His face was covered in scratches and cuts along with a bruise around his eye and cheek bone. His nose looked broken and there were long jagged cuts along his arms. His chest was bleeding heavily from a blow that he had received at the start of the battle and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle, which told her that it was most likely broken. His clothes were torn and, judging by his difficulty breathing, he had a few broken ribs that might have pierced one of his lungs. _

_He had gone through so much pain._

_And it was all her fault._

_She had caused this._

_How could she have done this to them?_

_They were her family, and she had killed them._

"_I'm sorry." She whispered, guilt wracking her already cracked voice. She tried to make it to him, but stumbled forward and collapsed._

"_No! Aiko!" He cried out in anguish as she fell to the ground, metres away from the one that had caused all this blood. He crawled to her side and pushed himself up beside her painfully before pulling her into his arms. She was breathing heavily and with every breath it was becoming harder to draw another one. He tore off his already ripped shirt and tied it around the hole in her stomach in an attempt to stop the blood but she knew it was too late.  
>"Just hold on!" He begged her, his voice desperate. "Just stay with me! Ankoku-sama and Lani will be here soon! Please!" He gripped her tighter to him as though, by holding her to him, he would be able to keep her by his side.<em>

_He was so warm._

_She was so cold._

_She could feel the coldness begin to spread through her from the hole in her stomach. And it quickly consumed her until she couldn't feel his warm touch on her skin anymore. She struggled to raise her hand to touch his face and wipe away the tears that were falling in a steady stream.  
>"I'm…sorry. It…looks…like…I'll…have to…leave…you…after all." Her hand began to fall and he grabbed it hard enough for her to feel it in her numb state. <em>

_"You aren't going to leave me! You promised that you wouldn't leave me!" __He roared savagely into the night air._

_ But she barely managed to hear him. _

_She smiled softly. "I…know…I'm so…sorry…for…give me…" Tatsuo's arms started to shake as he held her and his tears dripped down onto her neck. But she no longer had the strength to brush them away. She didn't want to see him like this; she wanted her last memory of him to be one of his smiling face. Not one tainted with the blood of his loved ones and tears that could have been prevented, had she possessed the strength required to beat death. _

_The coldness seemed to have reached her brain and she felt her eyes begin to close. "Tatsuo…I…love…you…" She was glad she managed to tell him that, at the end.  
>"No, Aiko!" As her eyelids shut, utter blackness consumed her. The last thing she heard was a soul piercing cry of absolute heart wrenching loss.<em>

_"AIKO!"_

* * *

><p><em>Aiko?<em>

_Who was Aiko?_

_Was she Aiko?_

_No._

_Not anymore._

_Had she ever been?_

_She didn't know._

_But, she knew she wasn't her now._

_Her…_

_Her name…_

_Her name was…_

_Lucy…_

_Her name was Lucy…_

_And him..._

_Natsu._

* * *

><p><strong>Just so we're clear:<strong>

**Yuki is a boy.**

**Ahh...The names... D:**

**for this story I had to look up all the different names for all the other characters...AH!**

**I tried to make the meanings of the new names coincide with the meanings of the old names but some characters names didn't have a meaning T_T so I ended up just kinda putting their attributes and behaviors into their names. confusing but...yeah.**

**Tetsu=Iron**

**Blythe=Cheerfullness **

**Leia=Child of heaven**

**Nerine=Water sprite (I think)**

**Yuki=Snow**

**Lani=Sky**

**Katsu=Victory**

**Tatsuo=Dragon-Man**

**Aiko=Child of love**

**Ankoku=Darkness**

**Let's see if you can figure out who's who! :D Ah..I kidd. It's very blatantly obvious, no? T_T**

**Cept for Ankoku...I'd be very surprised if anyone figured out who she was.**

**I don't own the song! That is by Emily Browning...So, all rights go to her!**

**But, I the one that's sung in this story is actually a pitched version that I found one day while on youtube. Here's da link.**

_.com/watch?v=CTij0Y3SMSU&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLAF3C94D234A96ED6_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi!  
>Sorry, it's been so long everyone, this chapter was meant to be out <em>weeks<em> ago.  
>But, while I was typing it up I realised that the new fairy tail chapter was out, (well, it was new then, since then there have been like three other chapters put up.) and I was like oh, yay! I can read it and then post this, WIN!<strong>

**No.  
><strong>**  
>Not gonna spoil it for anybody, but I blame it for the following writers block that occured, rendering me unable to post this chapter.<strong>

_**WARNING: There is more swearing than usual in this chapter, and one line that could possible be taken as innuendo.**_

**I'm sorry!, so please forgive me and enjoy!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Lucy shot up in her bed, heat pounding loudly in her ears.<p>

Or, at least, she tried to.

Something very heavy was wrapped around her rib cage, preventing her from sitting up and causing her some difficulty breathing. A warm breath tickled her cheek and she shifted her head ever so slightly to meet the vibrant pink hair of a dragon-slayer.

She went red, then pale, then red, and then finally a mix of both.

Looking down, she breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she still had her clothes on. And, taking a quick peek at the snoring slayer beside, noticed that he had his on too.

What had happened?

Instantly a flood of memories raged through her and she found herself glad for Natsu's arm, it prevented her from slipping off the bed and onto the floor.

That girl, she had died, mostly likely because of blood loss. Lucy tried to shake the image of the hole in her stomach out of her mind, but it remained there along with the face of the boy as he watched her die in his arms. Worst of all had been his scream of pure anguish, which echoed through her ears even now. It was gonna take a lot of time to be able to ever forget that sound, if she ever did.

The girl had been called Aiko and the boy had been called Tatsuo.

And they had looked exactly like her and Natsu. .

And, come to think of it, some of the other villagers reminded her of some of the guild members. Yuki and Nerine had looked exactly like Gray and Juvia, Blythe and Tetsu had been the spitting image of Levy and Gajeel, Lani and Leia had reminded her of Wendy and Lisanna. And the woman that Aiko had called Ankoku-sama…Polyusica-san? Had all of them died?

Why?

She shook her head and reprimanded herself. It was just a dream, nobody had died. It had just been a crazy dream that had been brought on by sleep deprivation and stress (And God knows that she'd had enough of those two over these past months).  
>That was the only logical explanation.<em><br>__  
>What about the only illogical explanation?<em>

She pushed the thought away, only to have it replaced by the images of Blythe and Tetsu lying on top of each other in a pool of blood, and of Yuki and Nerine's hands locked together as they died. She tightened her grip of the cover and tried to focus her breathing, willing the images to un-burn themselves from the back of her eyelids.  
>It was a stupid, stupid dream.<br>That's all.

"Nobody died." She mumbled softly to herself. "Nobody died."

Natsu grumbled and snuggled closer to her, nestling his head in the crook of her neck. Glad for the distraction, she turned to look at him and found her eyes traveling up and down his face, taking in all of his features, from his eyelids to the tip of his nose to the corner of her mouth. She felt a smile creep its way onto her face; he was really cute when he was sleeping like this. From the innocence and peace on his face, you would never guess that this guy liked a good fight more than anything and that he was one of the most (if not _the_ most) destructive person that she knew. Guess you could never judge a book by its cover huh?

She was still staring at him when his eyelids opened. Startled by his sudden movement, she was caught in his gaze and couldn't seem to tug her eyes away. He snorted and ruffled her hair.  
>"What are you staring at, weirdo?" He laughed at her shocked look and then dove under the blanket as she attempted to suffocate him with her pillow.<br>"Baka! I wasn't staring at anything!" She protested, trying to hide her red face behind another pillow as she kept trying to hit him. He came out from underneath the blanket and caught the pillow attacking him before pulling away the one that Lucy was hiding behind.

"Just admit it, you were staring at me you weirdo." He caught her face in his hand and gave her a smug look.  
>"Never!" Lucy cried out and leaned away from him before remembering too late that she was on her bed and there was nothing behind her but the floor. As she started to fall, Natsu grabbed her frantically waving arms and pulled her back onto the bed.<br>"Geez Luce, has there _been _a morning in your life when you _haven't_ fallen out of bed?"

"Yes!" She said sulkily, giving him a pouty glare. "I didn't fall out of bed just now!"  
>"Only 'cause I was here to catch you, dummy."<br>Pushing away from him with a haughty look, she turned away and swung her legs off the bed. Just as her feet hit the cool wood floor, Natsu's arms snaked around her and pulled her closer to him. Ignoring her small "Eeep!" of surprise, he nestled his head back in the crook of her neck and froze there. Glancing sideways at him, she realised that he had fallen asleep again. Figures he pulls her back just to sleep on her. Just as she was cursing herself for ever falling in love with such a dolt, he murmured into her shoulder and she felt her cheeks spontaneously combust.  
>"I'll always be here to catch you."<br>Whoever figured Natsu was one for cheesy lines like that?  
>It made Lucy gag, and she found herself wondering who told him that was a good pick-up line.<br>Probably Loki.  
>She gagged again at the thought of one of that playlion's lines being used on her but at the same time she felt a warm feeling seep through her and a smile twitch across her face.<p>

And then, the kind-of-beautiful moment was broken as her stomach growled noisily. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she looked sideways at Natsu to see if he had woken up, but he was still fast asleep.  
>Seeing as the grumble in her stomach was not easy to resist, she found herself sliding him off her gently before letting him slip onto the bed. Stretching and yawning, she headed into the kitchen to see what she could afford to eat for breakfast today. She hadn't gone out on a job in a while and money was running low because of it. Making a mental note to ask Natsu about going on a mission, she opened up the pantry and ran her eyes over the meager selection that was available to her.<p>

Between feeding Natsu, Happy and other various guild members when they decided to show up at her door, she was running quite low on food. Those guys could really eat; she would have to go shopping later and pick up some more food for the rest of the week. Going over to her wallet that she had left on the kitchen countertop from her last retail therapy trip with the girls, she sighed with relief. 14, 516 jewels could cover a lot if it was spent right. Glancing back at the open pantry, her eyes raked over what she had, her mind making a mental list of what she would need and what she could do without. She had cereal but, judging by how light it had felt the other morning, there wasn't a lot left. There was a quarter full bag of rice along with a box of pancake mix. Moving over to check what was in the fridge, she winced again at its contents. There was milk, but after checking the expiry date she realised that it was way out of date. Apart from a few apples and a lonely pear nothing else occupied the cool, empty wasteland that was her fridge. Shaking her head at the pitiful state of her fridge, she closed the door and grabbed a piece of note paper from the pad that was stuck to her fridge. Walking gingerly over to her writing desk to avoid waking Natsu, she grabbed a pen from the holder and began her list.  
><em><br>butter  
>eggs<br>milk  
>fish<br>chicken  
><em>_cake NO  
><em>_broccoli  
>carrots<br>pears  
><em>_cookies NO__  
>strawberries<br>plums  
>peaches<em>_  
>cupcakes NO<br>__spaghetti  
>Tomato sauce<em>_  
>chocolate NO<br>_  
>Shaking her head and cursing her stupid sweet tooth, while at the same time making a mental note to 'accidentally' bump some chocolate into her shopping basket, she made her way back over to the pantry and pulled out the cereal. Sticking her hand into the box, she shoved a handful of into her mouth. She began thinking out her plan for the day. She would go to the guild and ask the others if they were up for a job and if they were she would pick a job that Natsu, Grey and Erza were less likely to destroy stuff on. And if they weren't, she would pick a job that she could handle on her own. Thirsty, she turned towards the cupboard to grab a glass but was stopped by a knocking on the door.<p>

"Come in!" She called over her shoulder before grabbing a glass and heading over to the tap. She heard the door open as she was filling up her glass and turned around to face her visitor, expecting to see Gray or Erza.  
>"Neil!" She gasped, almost dropping her glass of water. She tightened her grip on it before carefully putting it down on the counter beside the sink.<br>"Why so surprised Lulu? I did say you owed me breakfast." He smiled charmingly at her but for some reason it sent chills down her back.  
><em>Gleaming white teeth…<br>_"Yeah, sorry but I'm rather low on supplies at the moment. That is, unless you'd like expired milk." She laughed but it sounded high-pitched and nervous. She was aware that her hands were shaking. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing slightly.  
><em>Coal black eyes…<br>_"Lulu, is something wrong?" He stepped into the kitchen and stopped a few short steps away from her. She felt fear begin to grow within her.  
><em>What the hell?<em> A voice in her head screamed. _Why are you acting like this? It's Neil! The guy that's taken care of you since you were little! The guy who gave you the courage to run away and join Fairy Tail! Stop treating him like he has the plague! _The voice faded away as she felt the fear reach her heart and grip it with an iron fist, momentarily making it skip a beat.  
><em>She just didn't know why.<em>  
>She backed up a few steps away from him, trying to place where this fear was flooding from and why her heart was beating so erratically. It was as though she was worried that just a touch from him would damage her irreparably.<br>_Blood.  
><em>  
>Why was there so much?<p>

But there wasn't.

Wait, what?

Where was she?

Who was she?

Aiko?

Lucy?

Lucy.

No, Aiko.

No.

Yes.

Lucy.

No.

Yes.

"Wha-?" She whispered, lost in a flood of memories and feelings that weren't hers and ones that were. Smiling faces turned into waterfalls of tears, flashes of flames, bursts of light, iron that was rusting with blood and rain, a broken pen, heavy rain, domes of ice with little sprinkles of blood droplets, a circle of darkness that threatened to consume her and the sound of something delicate fluttering gently in the backdrop of it all. Until Tatsuo's scream came back with a vengeance, drilling deep into herself. Her hands flew up to her face and her mouth opened into a silent scream. But the sound still remained, drilling itself deeper and deeper into her. Her nails had dug into the sides of her face, forming small cuts that allowed little streams of blood to flow down her face.

There was blood again.

But there had been more before.

There was never any blood!

She couldn't seem to feel herself anymore, like somehow in the middle of all this she had managed to detach herself from her body. She floated in the middle of all the screams and images that bombarded her, screaming for it to stop. But every time she opened her mouth, no sound came out.  
>Neil took another step towards her, swiftly closing the distance between them. She only regained some sense of her body when he grabbed a hold of her arm. Panic flared up and she tried to wrench her hand away before feeling something shoot through her, quickly numbing her body and leaving her limp. She saw herself collapse and topple towards the ground, only to have him catch her in his pale arms.<p>

Helpless, she couldn't even lift a finger.

Just like last time.

What last time?

There hadn't been a last time.

Had there?

"What's happening?" She screamed but it came out as a jumbled mess. She just wanted all the stupid shit to just go away and **leave****her****alone**.  
>"Hush. Don't worry about it," He purred as he stroked her hair. "It's nothing you need to worry about." She felt the panic ramp up with every word he whispered in his breathy voice.<p>

But why?

A heavy darkness seemed to flow within her, covering the images with a dark pall and shrouding them from her view. It silenced the scream of anguish and obliterated the delicate fluttering sounds, leaving her to sink into the comfortable blackness and silence. But the panic was still there, even as she fell down into herself.  
><em><br>Why?_

* * *

><p>Neil smiled as he watched her eyes flutter closed. It was good that he had arrived when he had; otherwise she had might have remembered everything. Carrying her bridal-style in his arms, he walked back to the living room and laid her gently down on the couch. Shifting his eyes back over to the bed, he noticed that<em> it <em>was still sleeping soundly there, locked in the soundproof bubble that he had put _it_ in. It made him angry that he had to leave her with _it _just lying metres away, but he had no choice. He sighed; he had wanted to make sure that _it_ had really known what _it_ had lost when he took her away. But with her memories coming back faster than expected that plan had to be scrapped.

He caressed her cheek gently and marvelled at the warmth it emitted. Tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, he found himself leaning closer to her, studying the lines of her perfect face. Her beautiful long lashes, the shape of her eyes, her cute nose, and soft lips. He felt himself leaning closer and closer, wanting to be nearer to those perfect features and to capture those soft lips and never let go. His lips barely grazed hers when she shifted in her induced sleep. He froze and drew back instantly, cursing himself for being so stupid. All that would have to wait until he had her safely within his grasp. With one last look at Lucy, he made his way to the door and closed it softly behind him.

Natsu opened his eyes and yawned, taking in his surroundings for a moment before jumping out of bed.  
>"Lucy!" He called out, moving around the apartment several times before realising that she wasn't there. Where the hell had she gone? He cursed himself mentally for falling asleep. How could he let her just leave when she obviously wasn't herself? Sure she had seemed alright that morning, but there had to be something wrong with her if she suddenly collapsed in the middle of the street. People don't just do that and then wake up perfectly fine the next morning!<p>

Unless they were him of course.

His nose caught a scent and he froze before emitting a low growl.

Neil.

That bastard had been in Lucy's apartment recently. He followed the scent around the house, from the front door to the kitchen and then to the couch and back to the front door. As he looked back at the front door, his eyes caught sight of a piece of paper stuck to it. Dashing over to the door, he tore it down and raked it over with his eyes  
><em><br>Natsu  
>You're sleeping really soundly right now, so I'm just going to let you wake up on your own time. Speaking of which, stop sneaking into my apartment when <em>_**I'm**__ asleep!  
>Anyway I forgot to tell you, honestly I forget myself, I'm meeting Neil for lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in town. Don't worry, like I said, nothing is going to happen. We're just meeting as friends. So I better not catch you following us!<br>-Lucy  
><em>  
>He ripped the paper into shreds before speeding out the door and promptly knocking someone to the ground.<br>"Oomph!" Lisanna's voice sounded out from under him.  
>"Lisanna!" Natsu jumped off her and helped her up, she giggled and brushed herself off. "Hey Natsu." She smiled at him before glancing around him into Lucy's apartment. "Where's Lucy?" She asked, glancing innocently up at Natsu.<p>

A dark expression came over his face and Lisanna shrunk back slightly in fear.  
>"She went out with her <em>friend<em>." He told her, stressing the word friend a bit too much.  
>"Aw, I have such bad timing!" Lisanna cried out. "I wanted to invite you and Lucy to come take a walk around with Gray, Erza and me." She sighed and glanced up at him. "Guess it's just the four of us now."<p>

Natsu shifted his eyes in the direction of Lucy's favorite restaurant. He remembered the first time she had tried to get him to eat some of the green-leafy stuff that they served there. She had told him that it was good for him, but one taste had left him gagging and needing several glasses of juice to wash away the taste. He remembered how she had slapped her forehead and put her head down on the table, murmuring about how embarrassed she was, but at the same time he could see her struggling to keep a smile from creeping over her.

"I was planning to go check up on her." He told Lisanna and went to step around her only to have his path block by the white haired mage.  
>"Uh uh, Mister. You are coming on a walk with the three of us and leaving Lucy to live out her social life in peace. You two don't have to be joined at the hip <em>all<em> the time."  
>Natsu glanced at the restaurant again, feeling a sense of helplessness rise up inside him.<br>"But-"  
>"If Lucy's said that she's going out with a friend, you should trust that that's all she's doing." Lisanna glared at him, her blue eyes boring into his onyx ones. He hesitated; looking for an excuse to follow Lucy, but Lisanna grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs and in the opposite direction.<p>

"C'mon, let's go!" She smiled brightly at him and continued tugging him along into the bright sunlight. "It'll be lots of fun, _trust_ me."  
>Natsu nodded, but his gaze was still caught in the direction of Lucy's scent, lost in the faint smell of strawberries mingled with mint and magnolia.<p>

* * *

><p>"Glad you could make it Lulu." Neil smiled at her and took a bite of his Greek salad.<br>"Me too." She told him before taking another bite of her pasta salad. Natsu liked pasta. She would have to remember to bring him here again in an attempt to get him to eat something healthy. Sipping on her water, she remembered the first time she had brought him here. How he had stared at the Mediterranean salad that she had ordered him ages before he attempted to eat it.

With his fingers!

But before she had time to protest, he had spat it out and, clutching his throat as though he had been poisoned, drank both of their glasses of juice before ordering fifteen more. Recalling the looks that the rest of the customers had sent them made her teeth grind against each other.

This was not a good idea, because it sent a twinge of pain through her head, which was already sore enough from the headache that had been plaguing her ever since she opened her eyes and found herself on her couch instead of her nice comfy bed. Wondering how she had got there, she had looked over to her bed and seen Natsu snoozing comfortably on it. She realized that she must've subconsciously moved herself to the couch during the night because he had taken up all the room in the bed.

Again.

God, didn't he have his own bed?

Grimacing, she put down her fork and took another sip of her water before pressing the pressure points in her eye sockets in an attempt to alleviate the pain. But for some reason the universe had decided to be against her today and it didn't work. Silently, she cursed Natsu for kicking her out of her warm and comfy bed.

"Are you alright?" Neil asked her, his eyes echoing the worry in his voice. She looked up with a start and instantly regretted it as another twinge of pain shot through her. She half-smiled at Neil through watery eyes.  
>"Yeah, my head's been giving me trouble all morning. I didn't even remember at first that I had agreed to go out for lunch. And," she paused a moment, not sure if she should go on. Neil sent her an encouraging look and she pushed past her hesitant feelings before continuing. "I have this feeling, like I've forgotten something important." She gave out a short gasp of pain as she felt another twinge go through her.<p>

"Don't stress your brain out. Wait until the headache's gone, then try and remember." He smiled at her and sipped his coffee. "It can't be that important if you've forgotten it so easily."  
>Lucy couldn't nod her agreement, so she waved her hand in what she thought was an affirmative gesture. Neil saw the pained expression on her face and put down his coffee.<p>

"How about we go for a walk in after lunch? You can show me around." He tipped his head to the side and looked at her gently. "I bet it'll do your head some good to get some fresh air."  
>She looked into his kind eyes and felt her heart sink. She wanted nothing more than to just go back to her apartment, knock back a couple of Advil, and lie on her bed with all the curtains closed. But she hadn't seen Neil in a long time and they had a lot of catching up to do.<br>"Fresh air sounds good." She told him.

* * *

><p>Natsu sighed heavily; Lisanna and Erza were looking at dresses in the shop window together while he and Grey stood around glaring at each other, only stopping whenever Erza turned around to look at them. Normally he would have had fun picking a fight with the stupid pervert, but his mind kept wandering back to Lucy. Apart from Lisanna, the rest of the group seemed to be thinking about her as well. When Lisanna had first dragged him up to Erza and Grey at the doors of the guild, the two had been very confused.<p>

"Hey!" Lisanna called out cheerfully, her cheeks flushed from running.  
>"Hey." Grey said slowly, glancing around the both of them. "Where's Lucy?"<br>"Oh, she was already out with one her friends when I arrived." Lisanna told them before linking arms with Erza and pulling her along the street with her. "C'mon guys! Erza, I just found the cutest dress shop ever. I know you're just going to love it."

And now here they were, with Erza clearly head over heels just as Lisanna had predicted, while Grey and Natsu stood there wishing that the ground would open up and swallow the other one. Natsu sniffed the air, catching waves of Neil and Lucy's mingled scents coming from the direction of the restaurant. He wanted to sneak after her but he didn't doubt that, if he did, Erza would catch him in a snap. And probably snap something inside him when she did so. But that didn't stop him from glancing that way every so often.

He wondered what she could be doing with Neil. Would they be eating that disgusting green stuff together? He was sure that Neil probably loved the stuff, just like her. Would she be drinking strawberry lemonade? Or would she just have water? Would they have some of that chocolate cake that Lucy liked so much? He knew she liked it because sometimes when he came over and they hadn't broken as much as usual in their mission, she would go down to the restaurant, order one and bring it home.

Once, she gave him a piece and thanked him for being less destructive than usual. He had been excited until he took his first bite. He spit it out immediately before running to the kitchen and attempting to sterilize his taste buds with several glasses of water. He couldn't understand how Lucy could eat something so sweet and why she ate so much of it. But when he tried to ask her about it, she got angry for no reason and threw any and all objects within her reach at him.

Thinking back, he realized that she got angry quite a lot. He would have to ask her about that. Maybe she needed to attend one of those "anger management classes" he was always hearing about.

"Miss us?" Lisanna's voice broke through Natsu's already struggling train of thought. He blinked and looked into her blue eyes, staring intently into his. She and Erza were carrying a blue plastic bag, Erza looking less sure of her purchase than Lisanna. Grey glanced over at Natsu and raised his eyebrows, as though he trying to say to him telepathically: "And we were needed here because…?"  
>Natsu coughed and pushed a smile on his face.<p>

"Yeah…so what now?"

Lisanna appeared to draw a blank for a moment before her face lit up with an idea.  
>"How about we go get something to eat? We can go to that restaurant just up the road."<br>Natsu followed her gaze and found himself looking in the direction that he had been stealing glances at all day. The scent of strawberries wafted down towards him and he breathed in deeply before nodding at Lisanna.  
>"Let's go! I'm starved!" He cried out as he started racing down the street. His heart thumped loudly in his ears and he felt a smile take over his face almost instantly.<p>

* * *

><p>Once they had paid, Neil and Lucy left the restaurant and headed out into the afternoon air.<br>"So where do you want to go first?" Lucy asked him quietly, still not over her headache. If anything, it was getting worse by the minute.

"Hmm, well, I'd like to see those Rainbow Cherry Blossom trees that everyone says are the pride of Magnolia." Neil told her, pointing towards a sign that proudly announced where the trees could be located. She tried to raise her head to follow his gaze but only managed a few millimetres before she had to stop. "Alright." Lucy said, the words barely leaving her lips. She took a couple steps towards Neil, but it seemed with every step the pain in her head increased. Finally she stopped a few steps away from him, the pain becoming more than she could bear. Covering her face in her hands, she squatted down and took a few deep breaths with her head between her legs.

"Lulu?"

Neil's worried voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard, making her wince.  
>"Sorry, I need to go home." Lucy struggled to put the words together through her immense pain and bit back a yelp.<br>"Yeah, I can see that." God, did he have to be such a smart ass?  
>"Well, if you can see that then <em>help<em>me." She meant to sound annoyed but, her voice broke at the last part.

"Alright Lulu, just breathe." His soothing voice seemed unnecessarily loud to her ears. She felt herself being scooped into his arms. As soon as her head leaned against his chest, it felt like it was about to explode. She gave a cry of pain and felt her body try and contort away from his arms, almost succeeding. He had to scramble to avoid dropping her, desperately clutching onto her back and legs. She continued to writhe in his grip, the pain so intense that she lost of sense of her surroundings, the only thought that encompassed her was to get rid of the pain as fast as she could.  
>"Lulu! Calm down!" His voice broke through her eardrum, almost shattering it. She moaned in pain and tried to push herself away from him again, her head throbbing.<p>

"Hush Ai." Neil's voice had suddenly taken a hard edge.  
><em><br>Ai…?_

Who the hell was Ai?

"Neil. My name is Lucy, not Ai." Lucy's pushed the words through her lips, temporarily gaining control of herself before being plunged back into the pain.

"Are you sure?"

What the hell was wrong with him? Couldn't he see that she wasn't in the mood for one of his riddles? God, what she would give to be lying at home in bed right now. Far away from these confusing questions and Neil's apparent fit of insanity. Of course she was sure her name was Lucy! It was her name for crying out fucking loud! How could she not be sure?

Fuck, did her head hurt.

"Yes! Now put me down, I need to go home."

If the leprechauns or whoever the hell it was that was ripping her head open could stop now, that would be very much appreciated.  
>He smiled and pulled her closer to him, effectively disabling her efforts to free herself, she cried out again as the pain in her head grew.<p>

"Sorry, _Ai_." He whispered softly and twirled a piece of her hair around his fingers. "But I just can't do that."

She fought against the pain and managed to open her mouth to argue but instead found it covered by his cold lips.  
>A huge burst of pain ripped through her, causing tears to fall down her face, before slowly falling away.<br>She remembered everything.  
>He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes, his coal black ones smouldering. He brushed away the tears with his hand and gently stroked her face. She reached up her hand and brought his mouth back down onto her own.<br>_  
>NO!<em>

Lucy screamed within herself as she watched her body move on its own, cursing herself for being such a fucking idiot. How could she have so easily accepted his lies! Even if she hadn't known it was him, she should have been able to get _some_ feeling that he wasn't what he said he was! She threw herself against the walls of the cage, cursing _him_for being such a damn good liar, and a fucking good planner to boot.

Granted, she didn't know what he was planning, but she knew it didn't include anything she would do of her free will if he had to use the mind trap spell to lock her consciousness away. He had clearly gotten stronger if he could still move his own body while controlling hers. It was an extremely difficult spell that was usually used by spies when they wouldn't to infiltrate a place without the danger of being discovered themselves. Only the really, really experienced could maintain control of their own body while continuing to control another's.

If you slipped for a moment, depending on how strong the victim's will power and magic was, and then they could break through and regain control of themselves again. So you could generally tell if someone was casting the spell because they would stare off into the distance, concentrating on something only they could see, and oblivious to all that happened around them.

She threw herself against the cage doors again. They didn't budge but they dented just a little bit. She felt Neil release her lips and her hand fall down from the back of his head. She fist-pumped the air at her victory and prepared for another rush at the metal bars, when a voice caused her to stumble to the floor.

"Lucy?"  
><em><br>No._

Her eyes opened and she turned her head to see the owner of the voice.  
><em><br>Please no._

Grey, Erza, Lisanna and Natsu stood there staring at the two of them, shock covering all of their faces. She pushed herself up off the floor and began hammering on the bars.  
><em><br>You guys, run! He'll hurt you!  
><em>  
>Damn it! This was supposed to be her fight! She couldn't let them get involved again, not after what had happened last time.<p>

A sultry smirk crossed Lucy's face and she tilted her head before opening her mouth in mock surprise._  
><em>"Well, well, if it isn't the four bakas! What are you all doing together this fine evening?"

Lucy froze for a moment before hammering even harder against the bars.  
><em><br>That's not me!_

"Lucy-you-what?" Grey spat out.

"I'm assuming that was baka for "what are you doing?". Well, it's quite simple. I was kissing Neil. He's much more mature than Natsu and he seems to have a better idea of what a girl needs."  
><em><br>Shut up!  
><em>  
>Lucy punched the bars over and over again, blood beginning to sprinkle her pale fists.<br>Natsu's face contorted in pain, and his hands began to tremble slightly. Lucy threw herself again and again against the bars with screams of frustration and rage. How dare he hurt Natsu like that? Taking over her body and saying all those disgusting and completely untrue things. Just wait till she got her hands on him.

Lucy's mouth broke into a smile at the effect her words had had. Turning her head back to Neil, she caressed his face softly.  
><em><br>Please, just run away! I don't want to you to get hurt. _Lucy begged Natsu silently, the fight leaving her as she stared into his wounded onyx eyes. It didn't matter if they hated her, just so long as they hated her while going on with their lives. She could live with that. She felt a bitter laugh choke in her throat. After all, there wasn't much hope of her coming back from this next battle, seeing how badly she had fared in the last one.  
><em><br>So please.  
><em>  
>"So, I've decided that I'm going to stick with him from now on." Lucy's fingers fell from Neil's face and landed on his shoulders.<br>"Oh, and tell the others that I won't be coming back, to that horrible, destructive, drunk mess of a guild ok?" She laughed cruelly. "God knows why I even joined in the first place." She grabbed Neil's hand and pulled him forward away from everybody else with a smile.  
>Lucy was shaking in the cage, half with relief that they were leaving her nakama in one piece, and half with anger at the fact that, they while they were physically ok, this conversation has caused long, jagged and painful cuts across their hearts. Tears pricked her eyes as she stared at the road in front of her, knowing fully well where it would lead her.<p>

_Death.  
><em>  
>A hand grabbed her arm and jerked her back, causing her to fall into a warm chest. Looking up she glared into the fury of Natsu's blazing onyx eyes and felt her own widen in shock.<p>

"Whoever you are, get the hell out of Lucy's body." He growled, his hand tightening on her arm.  
>"Baka, I am Lucy." She glared up at him disdainfully only to meet another growl.<br>"Don't screw around." Venom fell down in floods off his voice. "Lucy would never talk about Fairy Tail that way."

Lucy felt her heart skip a beat.

"Have you ever considered that the Lucy you knew wasn't the real Lucy?" Neil's voice came from in front of her like a snake hissing dangerously. "Now let her go."  
>Gray stepped up in front of Lucy and blocked her from Neil's sight.<p>

"No."

Neil's eyes flashed dangerously. "What?"  
>"Lucy's our nakama, there's no way we're handing her over to you."<br>"Absolutely." Erza walked up and stood beside Gray. "Lucy loves us, and we love her." She gave Neil her best death glare. "There is not a chance in this world that Lucy said those things about our guild of her own free will." She equipped into her Armadura Fairy armour while Grey made a sign with his hands, ice swirling around in a circle around his feet.

Lucy felt love for her nakama and happiness well up inside her. She couldn't believe that even though she had said all those horrible things, they had refused to believe it was really her speaking. They had even jumped out in front of her to protect her.  
><em><br>Wait._

Her eyes widened in horror.  
><em><br>They were protecting her.  
><em>  
>She rammed herself again and again at the cage, trying to even harder to break it down than before. If she didn't hurry up and get out there, he was going to kill them, just like he did before.<br>_  
>The bastard!<br>_  
>Natsu pulled Lucy to her feet and spun her around to face him.<br>"Lucy would never say all the trashy things you said." He looked at her with disgust. "Trash like you doesn't deserve to use Lucy as you see fit!"  
>Lucy rushed the bars again at high speed but they disappeared just as she was about to hit them and she fell right out of the cage and back into control of her body.<p>

Blinking, she registered feeling in every part of her body. Specifically her arm which was nice and warm from the heat that was pouring into her from Natsu's warm hand.  
>"Luce." Natsu broke into a smile and she looked into his warm eyes, begin whoever would listen that they would remain warm and wouldn't grow as cold and unblinking as the others had.<p>

"Gomen." She told him softly before breaking away from him and running in front of Grey and Erza.

"Natsu, Grey, Erza, you guys have to get out of here!" Lucy said as she threw her arms out wide, as if this would protect them all.  
>"What are you talking about?" Grey yelled at her angrily. "As if we'd leave you!"<br>"You have too!" She yelled back at him. "I can't-"  
>her voice broke as the image of Yuki's unseeing eyes floated in front of her vision.<br>"I can't go through that again." She finished, shaking slightly.  
>Erza frowned and stared at her.<br>"Go through what again? Lucy, what are you talking about?"  
>"Yeah, what the hell's going on?" Natsu said as he pushed past Erza and Grey to grab Lucy's shoulder.<br>"Did he try something like this before?"

Lucy felt like she was going to cry. How was she supposed to explain that they had already lived seventeen years of their life together one hundred years ago, and that they had all died trying to save her.

Natsu saw the tears gathering in her eyes and tightened his grip on her shoulder.  
>"Did he hurt you?" He whispered, rage overflowing from every word.<p>

Neil laughed, throwing his head up in air with glee.

"What's so funny, you asshole?" Natsu snarled.  
>"Nothing, I just find it funny that a murderer is asking his victim if someone hurt them."<br>"Shut up!" Lucy yelled as Natsu stiffened instantly beside her.  
>"What the fuck are you talking about?" Natsu yelled.<br>Neil just laughed again.  
>"Aw, poor little dragon. You don't remember anything do you?"<p>

"I said shut up!" Lucy screamed.

Neil looked at her smugly in the shocked silence that followed before Natsu rounded on Lucy.  
>"Lucy what's he talking about?"<br>Lucy looked away from Natsu, refusing to meet him in the eye, as if by looking at them he could see into her thoughts.  
>"You really are thick, aren't you? Now, say it with me: I'm a murderer. My name is-"<p>

Lucy leaped at Neil with a barbaric war cry, cutting off his sentence and knocking him to the ground with a thump.

"Lucy!-"

She drew a circle in the air with her index and pointer finger and Natsu ran right into her barrier. Normal people wouldn't be able to hear what was going on inside the barrier, but she knew Natsu would be able to. She covered her ears and whispered: "Hear no evil." A golden light pulsed out from her; effectively sound-proofing the inside of the barrier.  
>"Well, it appears you've remembered everything Lulu." Neil said mockingly. "But if you've finally decided to get "comfortable" with me, I have to tell you, it's better on a bed then in the middle of a stone street."<p>

Lucy whipped around and grabbed him upwards by his collar.  
>"You listen to me." She hissed in his ear, "I could take you anyplace, anytime, anywhere and beat you with my hands tied behind my back. And you're damn right I've remembered anything, but that doesn't mean that everyone else has to. There's a reason people forget the events that have happened in their past lives." She pointed back towards her nakama. "They have enough burdens and mistakes lingering over them in this life, let alone all the ones from their previous life. Let them live their lives in peace, without any of that stuff from the past."<p>

She took a deep breathe, preparing herself for what she had to say next.

"And if you leave them be, then I will do whatever you want for the rest of my life. Even if that means I have to carve out my own heart bit by bit and day by day, for as long as it beats in my chest."

For several silent minutes, she and Neil stared into each other. She felt fear begin to constrict her heart, unsure what he would so next. In a snap he could push her off of him and slaughter all of them, just like last time. She had to control the scream that threatened to rip through her at that thought.

Neil held her gaze for a few moments more before chuckling and wrapping his arms around her.  
>"As you wish, my Ai."<p>

Relief reached up and consumed her like that black flames that began to consume the both of them, wrapping them in a dark embrace.

Lucy turned and looked into her nakama's horrified faces. They obviously thought that she was actually burning. Erza slashed the barrier uselessly with her sword while Grey slumped to the floor and just stared her. Natsu had stopped throwing himself against the barrier and leaned on it, screaming what looked to be her name. She felt as though she had already carved out her heart and cursed herself for only being able to pain them all the time. It was just like before, even though all she wanted was for them smile, all she ended up doing was making them cry.

Raising her hand in the Fairy Tail symbol she mouthed her final words to Natsu and disappeared along with the black flames.

* * *

><p>Natsu stared at the place where Lucy had disappeared in the black flames. Every part of him ached, with a sharp pain that made it hard to breathe. His throat hurt from screaming her name over and over again. He sniffed the air for the thousandth time, looking for the slightest sound that he hadn't seen what he thought he had seen. That Lucy hadn't burnt inside that black fire, that the pain he had seen on her face hadn't been real. That when he went back to her apartment, she would be making dinner for what she would tell him was just her, but really she made enough for the both of them.<p>

Just in case he did drop by.

He punched a nearby wall and watched pieces break off and shatter against the cold stones, wishing that they were Neil.

Damn it! Why couldn't he find her scent? Or even that fucking bastard Neil's one?

Erza and Grey had gone to inform the master about what had happened when Natsu said that he still couldn't find her scent after five hours. Erza had dragged Grey and herself away while Natsu stood there and continued to sniff. They weren't back yet, which meant they were either talking it over with the master or explaining it to the various guild members. It was a stupid idea. When they had turned around to go back, Lisanna was no longer there, so it was likely that she had run away straight after and told them already what had happened.

But it was strange that no one had come back yet.

Suddenly it hit him.

It had all been a prank!

The guild had decided to punish him for breaking the bar by setting up this whole façade! It all made sense now!  
>Spinning around on his heel, he turned and jetted off in the direction of Lucy's apartment, already hungry for that bowl of spicy spaghetti with meatballs that was Lucy's specialty dish. He licked his lips in anticipation and barreled through the streets of Magnolia until he reached her place.<p>

He flew up the stairs and threw open her door, impatient to see her smiling face.

"Luce!"

He was met with a dark apartment and shreds of paper that littered the floor beneath his feet.

Ah!

So it was a surprise party thing!

Lucy had told him about them once, you were supposed to turn on the lights and everybody jumped out and yelled "Surprise!"

He closed the door behind him and flicked the light switch.  
>The room was filled with brilliant light, but there was no cry of "surprise!"<br>He glanced around the room, drawing in the familiar strawberry scent, suddenly overwhelmed with her presence.

Lucy's scent was all over this room.

But Lucy was nowhere to be found.

He ran over to the writing desk, looking for a note like when she had gone to visit her mother's grave.

Nothing.

He yanked open her draws and raked through every last one of them.

Nothing.

He raced over to the table.

Nothing.

He ran to the kitchen and jerked the cupboard doors off of their hinges.

Nothing.

He ran into the bathroom.

Nothing.

He collapsed on her bed, breathing heavily.  
>Her scent consumed him, making it seem like she was right beside him. But when he stretched out his fingers, they were met with only air.<p>

He let himself fall onto the bed and covered his eyes with his arm. He didn't want to think about the words that Lucy had mouthed to him before she had disappeared, but the memory came to the surface of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to drown it.

Her eyes, full of pain, stared into his as her sad smile was broken by the words that had crushed him to the very core.  
><em><br>"Aishiteru."_  
><em><br>No._  
><em><br>"Sayonara."_  
><em><br>NO!  
><em>  
>Two tears ran silently down his face and hit the pink covers of Lucy's bed. They had seen a lot of those recently, but these had to be the most heart-wrenching and bitter ones yet. The silence of the room was broken by a strangled sob as even more tears began to hit the covers.<p>

Inside that bright room which was normally filled with so much light and laughter, but had certainly seen its fair share of drama, a heart laid breaking into more jagged, lung piercing pieces than any other heart had ever imagined possible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everybody! :D **

**Sorry, I didn't update last week :( This chapter took a pretty long time to write. **

**I figured that it was about time I owed you all an explanation about what in the world was going on.  
>So here it is!<br>Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot!  
>And thank-you for all your lovely reviews and for taking the time to read my story ^^<br>**

* * *

><p><em>Sunlight filtered like golden rays through the trees that surrounded the meadow. Flowers covered the huge field in an assortment of colors. It was almost like a rainbow had crashed down and landed into the field. White roses, red lilies, orange magnolias, yellow buttercups, green mint, blue violets and purple lilacs adorned every corner of the field, almost sparkling in the sun's beautiful rays.<em>

_But he couldn't care less about that.  
><em>

_Because standing in the middle of this field of flowers was his sun.  
><em>

_The entire world could be plunged into darkness and he wouldn't even flinch, as long as she was there beside him.  
><em>

_She stood there, her golden hair glowing against her long white dress, twirling one of the white roses around in her hand, humming a little tune to herself. She seemed oblivious to his existence as he stood there, just taking in her beautiful form._

That was, until he remembered where he had seen that dress before.

He ran for her as fast as he could, but it was too late.

He was only able to catch her as she fell to the ground.

The meadows and flowers around them vanished, except for the one she had been twirling around in her hand. It lay in her outstretched palm, the harsh dark red color of blood staining it and her dress forever. He gripped her tightly, not wanting to believe that the hole in her stomach actually existed, but the blood just wouldn't stop. Her eyes glanced off into the distance, as though she didn't see him, couldn't feel his arms around her, deaf to his pleas for her to please, please just

look _at him. But then her eyes traveled back to his and she smiled at him sadly before reaching up her hand to stroke his face._

He felt as though she had reached inside of him and torn out his heart instead.

Her hand fell from his face and the dim light that had been flickering in her eyes went out, leaving him alone in the encroaching darkness. The white rose that had lain in her hand had disappeared. He found himself staring at the spot where it had been instead of her eyes that stared into him. Her cold body felt strange compared to the comforting warmth he was used to when he would sneak into her bedroom because he couldn't sleep and she would sing him a lullaby. She told him she only sang to him because she couldn't sleep when he was awake. Apparently, he shifted around all the time and ended up kicking her. But he knew it was because the thought of him not getting a goods night sleep worried her. The same way that he knew she hadn't mean what she had said that night, about loving that bastard that had stolen her away from them all. She was just trying to save them, even if it meant she ended up spending the rest of her life in a living hell. She wanted them to give up on her, to let her fall away from their minds and never give her another thought. But she didn't know the effect she had on people, the love that blossomed for her in all their hearts.

_**"Please just leave!"  
><strong>__  
>Baka. <em>

_How the hell was he supposed to just leave her there when he could see from her red eyes that she'd been fighting the whole time and was on the verge of collapsing from fatigue?_

How was he supposed to leave her there to die?

_He couldn't seem to cry and he wondered why. His sun lay there in his arms, cold and stiff in his arms. He could still feel her body but would never again hear her laughter or see her funny faces. And he couldn't muster up a single tear for her. He just felt a dull ache that made every part of him feel heavy and a bitter guilt that cut through him._

_Why hadn't he made it in time?_

_He should've been faster._

_Why hadn't he been faster, damn it! _

_Why, why did this have to happen to her?  
><em>

_Why her?_

_Why?_

"_She's gone, isn't she?"_

_A voice came from his left and he turned to face Lucy._

He stared at the girl in his arms and them back at the woman and realized that the woman he thought was Lucy was actually just a woman that resembled an older version of Lucy.

Weird.

Just like Lucy.

He realized that he still hadn't answered the woman's question, but he couldn't bring himself to voice the fact that Lucy would never smile again, so he just nodded and went back to staring at the rose.  
>The woman crossed over to where he sat and knelt down beside him, opening a black bag and pulling out a large collection of keys on a silver key ring. She held out the key ring over Lucy's body and cleared her throat.<br>"I am connected with the path to the spirit world. Heed my call and come forth, king of the spirits." All the keys began glowing, the light growing brighter and brighter as her watched. In the darkness a swirling portal of stars appeared along with a huge golden gate that flung open to reveal an enormous man with a gigantic mustache. The man surveyed the scene before him with a grim expression before turning his gaze to the woman.

_**"She must be a stellar sprit user like Lucy."**__ Natsu thought as he took in the same scene before him. __**"But what the hell is that?"**_

"I take it that it didn't go well." The man said, looking at something that Natsu couldn't see in the darkness.  
>The woman shook her head.<br>"She managed to defeat him, but she and many others lost their lives in the process." She glanced at Lucy for a moment before turning back to the king. "I can feel that her spirit has moved on, but I don't know whether or not she will be reincarnated or not."

He was lost, all of sudden they were talking about reincarnation?  
>What the hell was that?<br>Some sort of religious ceremony?  
>Would it bring her back?<p>

The woman looked to someone over to the right of the two of them that only the king and her could see. "And if that happens, I have to take certain precautions.  
>"You can have whatever you need." The mustached man assured her.<p>

"_I'll need someone from the spirit world to became a fallen star and watch over her through her next life. If we have someone from the spirit world there, I'm sure that many, many innocent lives will be spared."  
>The man stiffened instantly and opened his mouth to argue but the woman simply held up her hand.<br>"And, I'll need everyone here to be reincarnated into her life again."  
><em>_**  
>"Life…again?"<strong>__ He stared at the woman as a smile broke out on his face._

_Lucy was going to come back to him!_

_The man stared at her for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.  
>"What a fine mess this is." He muttered. "Alright, I'll check whether or not she's going to be reborn and if she is I'll ask Scarlet to follow her to the next life and I'll make sure the rest of you follow her as well."<br>He turned to go but stopped.  
>"And, I'm sorry for your loss."<br>__**  
>"Is he talking to me?"<strong>_

He disappeared back through the golden gates and they slammed shut behind him.  
>At the same time the woman faded away from beside him, leaving him alone with Lucy again. But then the weight from his arms disappeared and he looked down to find that she was no longer in his arms.<p>

"Hee Hee."

He jumped up so fast that he nearly lost his balance and fell over.  
>Lucy stood in front of him, her white dress completely blood free, and her blonde hair glowing in the darkness. She smiled at him and ran a few meters away from him.<br>"Lucy, wait!" He cried out, but she turned and ran further away into the blackness. He chased after her, ripping through the blackness until he was just millimeters away from her pale hand. He reached out his hand towards hers, but he couldn't seem to grasp the damn thing. He tried reaching for her fluttering dress instead but was unable to reach that as well. As a last resort he reached for her flowing golden locks, but still came up with nothing but air.  
>"Lucy! Please stop!"<p>

_And then he was chasing nothing._

He spun around looking for any trace of a white dress, pale skin or golden hair, breathing heavily. But the only thing that surrounded him was darkness. Panic spread through him like wildfire, making his legs feel weak and shaky.

Were could she have gone?

What if she was hurt or someone was hurting her and he couldn't find her?

_Why had she left him on his own?_

He

needed_her._

Couldn't she see that?

How couldn't she?

"Lucy! Don't leave me!" He screamed but was answered only by deafening silence.

Why?

"Why

wouldn't_she leave you?" A snake-like voice hissed._

He spun around for a second time and came face to face with the

thing _that had caused all this._

The

thing_ grinned, showing its perfect white teeth and eyes so dark it made the blackness around them look grey in comparison.  
>"Where is she?" He yelled, grabbing it by the collar and shaking it roughly.<br>"Why would I tell you?" _It_ smirked at his panic and fear, enjoying it so much that it was almost like _it _was feeding on it.  
>"You-"<em>

"Natsu."

Lucy was standing behind

it_, twirling the white rose in her hand.  
>Relief flooded his body and he dropped <em>it _and ran to her.  
>"Lucy!"<br>She stretched out her hand to meet his._

And burst into flames.

He froze, transfixed to his spot with horror and shock.  
>Big black flames consumed her and the flower, she tried to shake them off of her but they just got fiercer. Tears and pain contorted her perfect face. She reached out her hand towards Natsu but he couldn't make himself move towards her. He tugged at his feet, begging them to move so he could help her. She began screaming, a terrible horrible sound that raked through his body.<br>"NATSU! HELP ME!"  
>"LUCY!" He hollered desperately, begging the flames to stop burning her. He could see that parts of her body were disappearing, crumbling away to ashes that separated and flew away from him. Her right leg and arm had already disappeared.<br>He had to hurry.  
>"I'M COMING, JUST HOLD ON!"<br>He tried to throw himself towards her but his feet wouldn't lift off the ground. Behind him, he could hear

it_laughing._

"Liar."

His head shot up and locked on to Lucy's face. Almost all of her body was gone, only her torso remained. Her eyes looked dead, glazed over with pain and despair. She looked at him, tears gathering in her eyes, like he was the one that had made the flames burn her.  
>"You're just watching me burn."<br>The accusation shot through him like a bullet. He stared at her, refusing to believe that the hatred in her voice was meant for him. He gestured at his feet, trying to find the words to say that it wasn't his fault, his feet wouldn't budge.  
>"No, I-"<br>"Murderer."  
>He just stared at her, feeling like she had stabbed him. Her torso was gone, along with the arm that held the rose. He watched it as it fell and crumbled to ashes before it could hit the ground. He looked back to Lucy and saw that the only thing remained was her face.<br>"Wha-?"

"MURDERER!" She screamed before her mouth turned to ashes as well, only her eyes remained, glaring at him with such paralyzing hatred that he found himself shivering from her gaze. The tears that had been gathering in her eyes fell down into the darkness as she let her eyes fall closed before they turned into ashes. They blew away from him, leaving him staring at the spot where she had disappeared.

No trace of her remaining, no proof that she had existed, that she had been real.

That she had loved him.

Only the sound of her scream remained, reverberating through his head endlessly.

_It was proof._

That she hated him.

"No…" He chocked out, this was not how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to be together! They were supposed to go on missions together, eat dinner together, be part of the guild together, they were supposed to laugh together and be there for the other one when they cried. This was worse than when he watched her die in his arms. There had been evidence then, proof that they had had something.

_But now, there was nothing, just a never-ending blackness._

* * *

><p>"Natsu!"<p>

Natsu woke to find himself being shaken away by Grey, who looked as crappy as he felt. He had giant bags under his eyes and his movements were jerky, as though he was keeping himself moving by sheer will power alone. Natsu raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, they felt puffy and sore. He wondered why, and then he remembered everything that had happened yesterday and the dream. He shoved Grey's hand away and pulled the blankets back over his head.  
>"Go away, you pervert!" He told him, refusing to let Grey see his red eyes and shaking body. That nightmare had shaken him to his very core, the hatred in Lucy's eyes, the tear that had dripped down into the darkness and the rose crumbling to dust replayed over and over again in his mind. Plus, he had a vague feeling that he had forgotten something very, very important. He just wanted to curl up on Lucy's bed, inhale her scent over and over again and never ever leave.<br>Grey, it seemed, had a very different idea.  
>He yanked the covers off Natsu and hauled him over his shoulder before opening the window and jumping into the street below.<br>"What the hell are you doing?" Natsu snarled at him, wriggling to get loose from Grey's vice-like grip.  
>"Something very time-saving." Grey told him shortly before punching Natsu to get him to stop wriggling. "Now just sit tight and don't move."<p>

Natsu considered arguing, he could take that ice freak any day, but something in him just gave up. He figured that the sooner he did whatever Grey wanted him to do, the sooner he could head back and curl up in Lucy's bed. So he just rested against Grey's shoulder as the ice pervert took off through the streets, running so fast that the town around him became blurred. He watched the colors fly by him and wondered if he could live the rest of his life like that, in a blur, oblivious to everything and everyone around him.  
>No pain, no worry, no sadness, no anger, no guilt, no despair.<br>Just, existing peacefully.

Grey reached the Fairy Tail guild and threw the doors open before racing in and dumping Natsu on one of the bar stools. Natsu opened his eyes and observed the faces around him. They all looked like Grey, tired and completely drained. Erza and Happy were the only ones missing seeing as the Master and Wendy were off visiting Polyusica-san in the woods to get some more medicine for the guild's small infirmary. Levy was leaning on Gajeel's shoulder, obviously trying hard to fight off sleep. The iron man himself looked like he was about to keel over at any minute. Juvia had a little rain cloud over her head in what looked like an attempt to keep herself awake, however, it wasn't working very well anymore, if it had worked at all. Cana was leaning sitting at one of the tables, one hundred or so barrels of alcohol littered on the floor beside her, in the process of chugging another one. He heard a sniffling behind the bar and saw Lisanna sitting on a stool with Mirajane behind her, looking away from her little sister with anger and disappointment written all over her face. Elfman was leaning against the back of bar behind Mirajane, looking very distressed. Natsu glanced around at the other guild members and then back at Lisanna, feeling like there was some sort of inside joke or something that he wasn't privy to.  
>"Hey Natsu." Levy came and stood beside him, her voice echoing everyone's fatigue.<br>"Hey." He said slowly, his voice cracking from the sobs that had racked him the previous night. "Where's Erza and Happy?"  
>"They went to go get the Master and Wendy." She yawned. "And we sent the rest of the guild members home around six." She told him, before shifting her tired eyes over to Lisanna.<br>When the sniffling girl made no move to talk, Levy turned back to Natsu.

"We found out what happened to Lucy."

His grip on the chair tightened and he looked up at Levy, desperate for answers.  
>"And?" He asked, desperation overflowing from every letter. Levy looked at him for a moment with what looked like hesitation, and then she nodded at Lisanna.<br>"Lisanna told us everything."  
>Natsu was really confused.<p>

"How does Lisanna know about what happened to Lucy?"

Levy sighed and rubbed her eyes, fighting off sleep. Gajeel came over and pulled her into his side, letting her rest her head on him. She yawned and closed her eyes before falling asleep in about 0.1 seconds. He looked at Natsu crankily; obviously he had been up all night too, before turning and glaring at Lisanna.  
>"Well, aren't you going to tell him?"<br>Lisanna shook her head rapidly and covered her face with her hands before pulling her knees up and going into the fetal position. Gajeel looked like he wanted to punch her, but settled for grinding his teeth instead. He turned his gaze back towards Natsu and ran his free hand through his hair.  
>"Well, it's like this. Lisanna here and the Neil guy worked together to get to you and Lucy."<p>

Natsu's jaw dropped open.

"What? Lisanna wouldn't do that. You've got it wrong!"  
>He spun around and leaned across the bar towards Lisanna.<br>"C'mon Lisanna, tell them that they're wrong."  
>She raised her tear-stained face and regarded him for despair for a minutes before shaking her head and burying her face back in her knees again.<br>"Lisanna?"  
>She sniffled and pulled her knees tighter to her body.<p>

"I'm sorry, Natsu."

He stared at her in shock. How could she do such a thing? She was his best friend! They had grown up together! And the moment his back was turned, she went and stabbed the only person he would ever love. At that moment, he hated her with a fiery passion. How could she just sit there and expect everything would be all right as long as she apologized to him? She had sold out her own nakama for crying out loud!

Gajeel coughed and Natsu dragged his eyes back to him.

"As I was saying, Lisanna and Neil were working together. They came with a plan to separate the two of you so that you wouldn't chase after her when Neil kidnapped her."  
>"Kidnapped?" Natsu interrupted. "Not kill?"<br>Gajeel nodded, sending waves of relief through Natsu.

That black fire, it had all been a trick.

She was alive.

He wasn't a murderer.

"It was supposed to happen slowly but apparently Lisanna got a call from Neil yesterday morning saying that the plan had changed and that he would have to kidnap her today. Lisanna said he didn't give much of a reason; just that something had happened that had caused him to revise their plan. Any idea what that might be?"  
>Natsu was still lost in his relief that Lucy was still alive. That he would get to see her smiling face and make dinner with her again. So it took him a moment before he realized that Gajeel was waiting for him to answer. He closed his eyes and thought back to the previous morning, they had woken up, she had tried to suffocate him, and then he had fallen back asleep. And when he had woken up, all that was left was her note.<br>"I don't remember anything in particular." He murmured. "But the night before she fainted in the street."

Gajeel gaped at him. "She fainted in the street?"  
>Natsu nodded.<br>"I forget to tell Grey and Erza, but I was just walking home and I heard her screaming. When I found her she was clutching her head and crying. Her face was really pale and it was like she couldn't see me, but her eyes were wide open! And then she fainted and I carried her home. She woke up, but she wasn't herself. She was breathing in these huge gasps and clutching at her face. I asked her what was wrong and she told me something about hearing weird music and seeing a woman being chased through the woods holding a baby."

The others just stared at him.

"And you didn't think, oh I better let everyone know that something's wrong with Lucy?" Gajeel asked.  
>"I <em>told<em> you, I forgot! I was so worried about her hanging out with _him_ that it totally slipped my mind." Natsu countered angrily.  
>"Gajeel, just forget it for now." Grey told him wearily.<br>"Fine. As I was saying, Neil called and told Lisanna that their plan had to be revised. He would be taking Lucy out for lunch, and she was supposed to take you, Grey and Erza out shopping for a bit and then "accidently" bump into the two of them. He would send her a signal when she was supposed to come and then she was supposed to use a mind trap spell to take over Lucy's body."

Natsu stared at him for a moment before his words sunk in.

"Lisanna made Lucy say those awful things?"

Gajeel nodded again.  
>"The plan was for the three of you to hear those awful things and break it off completely with Lucy. But the two of them underestimated your willpower and your love for your nakama. Something that <em>almost<em> every Fairy Tail member has." He paused for a moment to glare at Lisanna, who shrank deeper into a ball.  
>"Lisanna was shaken by your exclamations of faith in Lucy and the spell was weakened, allowing Lucy to break it and regain control of herself."<br>Natsu stood there, frozen, trying to make sense of everything, before turning to Lisanna.  
>"Why?" He asked, disappointment dripping from his tone. "Why did you do it, Lisanna?"<br>She sniffed and raised her red-rimmed eyes to his.  
>"Because he said that you stole her from him." She whispered.<br>"I stole her?" He asked incredulously. "_I_ stole her?"  
>She gripped her knees tighter to her and sniffed loudly.<p>

"He said that he had known her way longer than you had and that you didn't deserve her. He something about a deal that you had broken, and that if he had never made that deal then Lucy wouldn't have had to go through-" She hesitated. "W-what she went through."  
>"What did he mean?" Natsu questioned.<br>Lisanna shook her head.  
>"I don't know! I just thought that if Lucy was already going out with Neil then she shouldn't be with you. Obviously he thought that she was going to be waiting for him when he came back, and instead she just left him in the dust and sunk her claws into you and some other guy called Tatsuo. A slut like her doesn't deserve someone like you!" Lisanna snapped angrily.<br>Grey ran forward and grabbed Natsu, worried that he would try and attack Lisanna. While he felt like giving her a piece of his mind as well, he knew that wasn't going to solve anything.  
>But Natsu just froze, his eyes huge circles staring above Lisanna's head at something that no one else could see.<br>"Natsu?" Grey leaned forward and waved his hand in front of Natsu's face.  
>"Hey, baka, what are you staring at?" Gajeel asked scathingly, but if you looked into his red eyes, you could see worry lingering deep inside them. Levy's eyelids flicked open and she woke up, rubbing her eyes before finding Natsu's frozen figure.<br>"Natsu, what's wrong?" She asked sleepily.  
>Natsu made no move to answer Gajeel, Grey or Levy and simply stood there, oblivious to those around him.<p>

With the Guild member's attention locked on him, no one noticed Loki slip by until the resounding slap sound rang throughout the guild. Lisanna fell down, clutching her cheek, while Loki stood over her glowering dangerously.  
>"Watch your fucking mouth." He snarled at her. "For your information, Neil was the one who told Lucy to forget about him and move on with her life. He did <em>not<em> tell her to wait for him." He looked at her with disgust. "And Lucy has never been with anyone called Tatsuo. I don't know what kind of lies he spoon-fed you, but I can guarantee you that no one else here would have fallen for them. Don't you dare try and justify your actions by saying that it's all Lucy's fault. The truth of the matter is that you're a vindictive, jealous little bitch who couldn't stand the fact that Natsu was happy with someone other than you."  
>"That's enough Loki!" Mirajane ran to Lisanna's side and pulled her up before glaring at the Lion spirit. "She obviously regrets what she did, don't you Lisanna?"<br>Lisanna nodded before turning and running for the guild's back room.  
>"Lisanna!" Mirajane called out before chasing after her with Elfman not far behind. Loki took a deep breath and turned around to face the shocked faces of the other guild members. Well, everyone other then Natsu, who was still staring into space.<p>

"You shouldn't have done that." Cana reprimanded him, but there wasn't much feeling behind it. You could kind of tell that she had been itching to do the same to Lisanna herself.  
>Loki snorted.<br>"_Someone_ had to. She sold out one of her guild members just because they were going out with a guy she liked. If that doesn't deserve at _least_ a slap then I don't know what does."  
>Cana opened her mouth to say something, but a thought occurred to her and she ran to Loki and gripped his arm tightly.<br>"Did Lucy send you here?" She asked desperately.  
>Loki hesitated for a moment at the pleading look on her face but shook his head.<br>"She left her keys at home when she left to go see Neil. I tried to push through my gate and get to her when he first started acting weird, but something blocked me and I couldn't get through." He had to pause for a moment, the guilt from not being able to protect his master washing over him, before taking a deep breath and continuing.  
>"I've been searching for her magical energy from the celestial realm ever since she disappeared, but it looks like he's blocking it somehow."<p>

The disappointed silence that followed this was broken by the sound of the bar being broken in two for the second time in three days.

Natsu stood there, breathing heavily, fire curling around every inch of his body in little wisps, his eyes hidden behind the shadow of his hair. His fists were clenched so tightly that they were shaking, and small trickles of blood trickled to the floor where his fingernails had broken the skin.  
>"Hey Natsu, calm down." Grey told him, moving forward to put his hand on Natsu's shoulder, only to find it slapped away. Natsu turned to face the rest of the guild with a rage so intense that it caused several members to take a few steps back.<br>"Calm down?" He hissed, his onyx eyes flashing. "We just let him take her away again! Don't you know what this means?"  
>"Whoa, what do you mean "again"? Grey asked, confusion etched into every square inch of his face. Natsu snorted angrily and turned away.<br>Juvia tip toed forward cautiously.  
>"Juvia wonders what Natsu is talking about as well." She said, the rain cloud beginning to fade away a bit.<br>"_Everyone_wants to know what you're talking about." Gajeel told him.

Natsu closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"Tetsu, Blythe, Nerine, Yuki and Maeve." He looked at the confused guild members. "Otherwise known as, Gajeel, Levy, Juvia, Gray and Cana. Do you remember now?"  
>The guild members froze just like Natsu had done and stared off into space; he waited for a few moments until they all blinked and came back to this life. Levy was shaking with anger. Juvia was shuddering and hugging herself. Grey quickly moved over and wrapped his arms around her but he was shaking as well. Gajeel punched the wall and Cana shattered her barrel, sending beer flying all over the guild. Levy looked up at Natsu through teary eyes, struggling to speak.<br>"We…died?" She asked, the tears beginning to fall down her face.  
>Natsu nodded grimly.<br>"Shit." Grey said shakily, wrapping his arms tighter around Juvia. "Did she…?"

Natsu let his pink hair cover his eyes again and shook his head.

"She was in the middle of sealing him when he fired an attack at me. She jumped in front of it and took the blast for me, and she didn't end up finishing the spell. He died right after firing it and she…d-d-died a minute or so later." His voice broke towards the end as the image of her blood soaking through his clothes popped into his mind, her dull eyes staring unseeingly into his before falling closed.  
>"And we let him get her again." Gajeel said, frustration and guilt hollowing out his voice. The group took this truth in silently, guilt wracking every single one of them.<br>"She knew." Grey said quietly. "She knew that he was going to say your old name, didn't she? She was trying to protect us, make sure that we didn't remember. She wanted us to give up on her, just like last time."  
>"She's trying to deal with all by herself again." Levy added. "She's going to try and seal him away again, except without help this time, isn't she?"<br>"Probably." Grey said darkly.

"Hold up. What the hell are you talking about?" Loki interrupted. The others, who had forgotten he was, there turned to face him.  
>"It's a long story," Grey told him, "and we don't have time to tell it. We need to find Lucy A.S.A.P."<br>"Hey, Stellar spirits didn't come out a back then, did they? Levy asked, confusion overpassing her worry for a moment  
>Gajeel scratched his forehead, trying to remember.<br>"Yeah, your right, they didn't."

"Can you not talk like I'm not right in front of you?" Loki asked heatedly. "If it's a long story, just talk fast. I can't go running into this totally blind."

The others exchanged looks between each other; unsure of whether or not they could afford the time it would take to inform Loki.  
>"<span>We<span> don't have time." Natsu hissed angrily.  
>"But he's right, we can't have him running into this totally blind." Cana argued back.<br>"We don't need him running into this at all!" Natsu spat.  
>"Guys! We're wasting time arguing about wasting time." Levy interjected. Cana and Natsu glared at each other for a moment but looked away when Levy cleared her throat.<br>"Natsu, you try and search for her through your bond while I tell Loki what's going on." Natsu opened his mouth to argue but Levy swiftly cut him off. "I promise you that the second you find a clue about her whereabouts, we will drop everything and run."

Natsu still didn't look happy, but he dropped the matter and turned away from the others before closing his eyes and beginning his search.  
>Levy turned to Loki and cleared her throat again.<p>

"Here's what happened..."

* * *

><p>Lucy stood in the middle of the garden, surveying the field of flowers before her. It was like a rainbow had crash landed in the middle of the field and exploded, covering the whole are with color. Red lilies, orange magnolias, yellow buttercups, green mint, blue violets, purple lilacs and white roses. The house was full of colors too. White walls, red and orange pillows, yellow couches, green bathrooms, a blue kitchen and purple beds lay inside the huge mansion that he had acquired through his "friends". He had even given her a garden and a library, along with a silent plea for her to stay here with him forever.<p>

She had to admit that he had _tried_.

She walked into the field of flowers and sat down, watching the sun make it's way into the early morning sky. _He_ was still asleep; she had peered into his room and made sure that _he_ was before heading out into the fresh air. She breathed in the mixed aroma that arose from the flowers and lay down in the field, enjoying the feel of the petals and grass on her skin. The morning air was chilly, but the breeze that ruffled her hair made her feel free, it reminded her of the time Happy had carried her through the air to Natsu after he had beaten Gajeel and saved her. The air had felt so fresh on her skin and had tasted so pure. Then she had looked down and Natsu had smiled at her, his grin evoking one from her.

_Natsu_

She wondered how he was holding up. She wondered if he had gone to Lisanna's house and fallen asleep in her bed instead, snuggling into the crook of her neck instead of Lucy's. She closed her eyes breathed deeply, willing herself to get those thoughts out of her head. If anything they came back even stronger.  
>And then she heard it, a tiny whisper that came from the very depths of her heart, where the only thing that existed was the tiny thread like bond that tied the two of them together.<p>

_Lucy  
><em>

It was like someone had tugged that tiny thread, causing her to fly upwards. Her heart thumping so loudly, she was sure that _he_ could hear it through the walls of his room.

He was searching for her through the bond, and the fact that he knew about the bond could only mean one thing.

He remembered everything as well.

_No_

She quickly blocked off her end of the link, praying that they hadn't been connected long enough for him to find out where she was. She couldn't have them running to her rescue again, she couldn't watch them fall and bleed out the rest of their lives in front of her eyes in a futile effort to help her escape fate's plan.

"Ai."

_His _voice made her freeze, terror creeping through her veins. She opened her mouth, screaming at herself to calm down and just say good-morning normally, but no sound came out. Footsteps sunk into the soft dirt and crushed the flowers underfoot as _he _made his way around her. _He_ turned towards her and sunk to the ground, trying to glimpse into her face. She turned away quickly and let her hair fall across her face in an attempt to hide it from him. She knew that if he saw how shaken up she was, it would be just too easy for him to guess why. _He_ had the uncanny ability of reading her like an open book, and she had no desire to send him on a killing spree, slaughtering her nakama like they were nothing more than bugs that he had to step on.

Two pale hands reached out and locked themselves around her wrists like a pair of handcuffs, pulling her arms over her head and forcing her to lie back on the ground. Her hair fell sideways out of her face and she found herself staring into his eyes, anger emanating from every square inch of him. His grip on her arms was painful and she winced as he tightened his grip even more.  
>"He knows." It was a statement, not a question.<br>She opened her mouth to argue against it, but her mind became like a blank slate with no excuse in sight. She closed her mouth and, without meaning to, answered his question perfectly.  
>He stared at her for a moment before leaning down and kissing her roughly, his tongue pressing on her lips, trying to force them open. She shuddered in disgust and turned her head away to break the kiss, refusing to look him in the eyes.<br>After a few moments, his voice cut through the heavy silence that surrounded them.

"I had you first." He spoke softly, but anger was beginning to build with every word. He rearranged his hands so that he was holding her arms with just one, leaving the other one free. He grabbed her face and pulled it back to face his. Lucy's eyes widened as panic began to bubble up inside of her.  
>"If you can't forget him while he's alive, I can easily fix that." He whispered softly.<br>An image of Natsu lying unmoving on the ground in front of her flashed in front of her eyes as the panic inside her heightened. She knew that if she didn't convince him otherwise, that was going to become a reality very soon.  
>She forced her face upwards just enough to graze his lips. He didn't move for a moment, obviously surprised by her actions. But then he crashed his lips back down onto hers, rougher than last time. She let him, pushing back the waves of disgust that shot through her and tears of guilt that threatened to spill over. She closed her eyes and silently begged who ever would listen to keep the others safe and far, far away from her.<p>

_I won't let it end that way._ She thought as he ran his tongue along her lips again. _They _will _live the rest of their lives happily.  
>I <em>swear _it. _

* * *

><p>"<em>Aiko!"<em>

_Blythe's voice cut through the blonde's thoughts and she turned to face her blue haired best friend. The girl was running through the dirt street that connected all of the outlying villager's houses together, huffing and puffing like she had been running a marathon. When she reached Aiko, she had to pause for a few huge gasping breaths before straightening herself up and smiling at her.  
>"Hey Blythe." Aiko laughed. "What's going on?"<br>"Katsu wanted to know if you could come see him for a little bit later, he wanted to show you some really cool books that he collected on his travels." She grinned at her. "C'mon, he said that he'd let me look at them too!"  
>"Oh Blythe, sorry, but I said I'd teach Tatsuo how to make spaghetti." Aiko told her apologetically, pulling slightly at the white summer dress she was wearing. "He's already waiting for me at my house."<br>"He can wait for five minutes while we look at Katsu's books." Blythe told her stubbornly before grabbing her hand. Aiko opened her mouth to protest but found herself swallowing a cloud of dust as Blythe began dragging her along the dirt path towards her guesthouse. Coughing and spluttering, Aiko could feel dread already beginning to pool in the pit of her stomach.  
><em>

_Katsu had been finding reasons to ask her over every day since he had saved her from the men from Shadow Spear. She had refused every offer saying that she had something else to do, but he had finally won, using Blythe's love of books against her. She couldn't explain it, but something about him unsettled her. Tatsuo didn't like him either, and always made a show of pulling her closer to him whenever the two passed Katsu in the town. Ordinarily she would've have reprimanded him for being too possessive, but when it came to Katsu she was glad for Tatsuo's shows of affection. She couldn't escape the feeling that he was always undressing her with his eyes when he looked at her, and it scared the hell out of her.  
>None of the other villagers seemed to notice though, and when she voiced her concerns at one of the town meetings, she was told off for not being grateful to the person who had saved her.<br>Blythe abruptly stopped and Aiko realized that they were at the guesthouse. It was a small wooden cabin that sat at the other end of town from Aiko's house. A distance that she had always disliked, because it meant that Blythe's house, which was about seven hundred meters away from the guesthouse, was really far away. But after Katsu had moved in, she had found herself more and more grateful for the distance. She felt her knees shaking slightly at the thought of going inside and seeing him without Tatsuo beside her. She swallowed and told herself that nothing was going to happen as long as Blythe was there, but it didn't ease her dread one bit.  
><em>

_"C'mon!"  
><em>

_Blythe pulled her up to the front door before knocking three times. A moment later, the door creaked open to reveal two coal black eyes and a gleaming smile.  
>"Aiko! It's good to see you again. Come on in." He held open the door and smiled encouragingly at her. She hesitated for a moment, but reassured by a squeeze from Blythe's hand, she stepped through the doorway.<br>_

_A hand locked around her wrist, pulling her into the cabin and ripping her away from Blythe. The door slammed shut behind her with a bang, followed by the click of a lock, before she was pushed up against it. Katsu had both of her hands above her head and gazed down at her with a strange expression on his face. Ice cold fear pumped it's way through her veins, rendering her unable to do anything but stare into his coal eyes. Dimly she heard a pounding on the door behind her and felt the vibration run through her as Blythe called out her name.  
>"Katsu! What are you doing?" Blythe's voice was full of confusion and shock.<br>"Something I've been waiting to do for a while now." He called, his eyes leaving Aiko's face to travel up and down her body before he began grinning wolfishly. "Tell Tatsuo that I'll be taking his girlfriend off his hands."  
>"What?" Blythe yelled, pounding on the door harder now, causing the wood door to move back and forth and bump Aiko's head several times. This was obviously getting them nowhere.<br>"Blythe, go get Tatsuo!" Aiko yelled, fear making her voice high and shrill.  
>"But-!<br>"Just go!" Aiko screamed back at her.  
><em>

_The pounding stopped and Aiko heard the sound of footsteps running away. Katsu smiled and winked at her, like this was all an inside joke, and they were the only ones in on it. She just glared at him, digging her nails into the cracks in the door behind her, cursing herself for leaving her keys at home.  
>"W-why are you doing this?" she asked him, trying to find a way to distract him and keep him talking. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it looked like his face was moving closer and closer towards hers. "What's your plan?" Realization smacked her across the face like a wet towel. "Are you planning to try and get to Tatsuo through me?" She laughed bitterly. "That's it, isn't it? I bet he broke up some little crime ring that you were involved in and now you've come to take revenge." She cocked her head mockingly at him.<br>"So which one was it? "Magnus", "Shadow trio", "The Creatures Of The Night", or "Cloak and Dagger"?"  
>He smiled sweetly at her.<br>_

_"None."_

_She stared at him, trying to think whether or not there had been any other crime rings that Tatsuo had told her about, but came up with nothing.  
>Katsu bent his face down to hers touched his forehead against hers, a shudder of disgust ran through her and she tried to shake off his grip of her arms but his grip was too tight.<br>__**"Tatsuo, hurry." **__She begged silently, but her pleas were interrupted when Katsu started talking again.  
>"And your wrong, it's not him I'm after. Although, originally, I did plan to have those thugs from Shadow-Spear take him away for a little while. But then they decided to switch targets and go after you instead. So I ended up stepping in and becoming the "hero" that "saved" you." He grinned wickedly. "It took a little more time, but the end result is that I got what I came for." He picked up a piece of her blonde hair and brought it to his lips.<br>_

_"You."  
><em>

_Aiko's mouth fell into a perfect "o" shape.  
>"What do you want with <em>me_?" She asked in disbelief.  
>"C'mon, don't tell me you haven't figured it out?" Katsu asked mockingly, his eyes gleaming with dark humor.<br>"Figured what out? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about." What was taking Blythe so long?  
>"You don't huh? Well, I guess I better tell you then." Aiko narrowed her eyes; this overconfident bastard was so sure that he had won. She couldn't wait until Tatsuo got there and tore apart his huge, inflated ego.<br>"Have you ever heard of "the one magic"?"  
><em>

_She faintly recalled Ankoku-sama mentioning it in one of her huge long lectures and she found herself nodding.  
>"Well, that one magic stems from two completely different powers that should really have nothing to do with each other, but somehow coexist to produce the mother of all magic."<br>"How is it one magic, if it come from two different sources?" Aiko questioned scathingly.  
>"Ah, that's when people tend to disagree." He let her hair fall back down to her shoulder. "Some say that the "one" refers to the unity formed when the two different forces work together but others say that the whole story is nothing more than an old legend, and that there is no "one magic", just individual forces of magic that exist within ourselves. I supposed that is a more believable theory than the other one, but untrue all the same."<br>"So I take it you're a "one magic" believer then." She stated dryly. "What does any of that have to do with me?"  
><em>

_He leaned forward to touch their noses together.  
><em>

_"I'm just getting to that part, do you know what the two different sources are?"  
>"No." She said exasperatedly. He was obviously off his rocker; Tatsuo was going to have no trouble with him at all.<br>Katsu just smirked at her frustration.  
>"Ai and Shi." He told her.<br>Despite her situation, she nearly burst out laughing.  
>"Love and Death?" She asked incredulously, how cheesy could this guy get?<br>"Strange isn't it? But when you think about, aren't they suited towards each other? Death trumps Love in that it can steal away the one that you love and put them somewhere you can't reach them. But Love continues beyond death, even when you know that you can never reach them again. The two can never beat each other; a fight between the two would just result in an endless cycle that could never be broken. So the two work together and produce something incredible instead of laying waste to everything that surrounds them. Sweet, isn't it?"  
>"It sounds more like an insane person's ramblings." Aiko told him. "And anyway, that <em>still_ has nothing to do with me."  
>"I'm getting there." He told her before leaning down to her ear. "Be patient." He whispered, causing the hair on her neck to stand up.<br>"It was said, that Love and Death chose mages as lovers and that their children were gifted with extremely powerful magic that passed through the bloodline."  
>"So?" She spat at him, worry chewing at her. Tatsuo and Blythe should have been back a long, long time ago. What if he had hired some goons to go after them?<br>_

_"You still don't get it." His voice had dropped several degrees, showing that he had finally lost his patience.  
>"There's nothing to get!" She snapped. "All you've done is tell me a bedtime story!"<br>His grip on her arms tightened and she cried out in pain, his nails had cut into her skin, causing little teardrops of blood to run down her pale arms.  
>"The children of Love were accepted in society, because everyone wants love, don't they?" He was muttered, seemingly oblivious to her cries of pain. "But the children of Death were shunned, because who in their right mind would willingly accept death into their home? Death's children grew up on the streets, begging to survive, while Love's children enjoyed the lap of luxury, lost in the warm embrace of those around them."<br>Katsu was shaking with anger now, his cool demeanor completely gone.  
>"Have you ever been so hungry that you just wanted to die, even going so far as to beg complete strangers to just end it all? I have, until I realized something. I had the power to make people what I wanted, if I just used it right. And they fed me whatever I wanted." He laughed, but there was a crazy edge to it.<br>"But rumor got around about me, and the royal guard came to arrest me for threatening the peace. I wiped out all of them in a single blast," He chuckled sadistically at the memory. "That was when people started calling me "the death mage"."  
><em>

_Aiko felt her blood run cold as the meaning of his words hit her full on._

"You're Zeref." She whispered.

_"And a descendant of Death." He added. "And you, Aiko, are a descendent of Love."  
><em>

_"How'd you figure that _one_ out? She tried to sound sarcastic, but terror stabbed through her sentence. She couldn't believe that the "death mage" was standing right in front of her, telling her that he had come for her. It was something out of an old legend; all that he was missing was the long black cloak and scythe.  
>"I met you, years ago, when you went to town with your little <em>boyfriend_." He spat out the word like it was some sort of bug that had crawled into his mouth.  
>"I watched you for a while before <em>he_ rushed off and left you to carry all the heavy bags by yourself. You turned to chase after him but bumped into someone and ended up dropping the bags. I came over to help you, and your fingers brushed mine as we reached for the same apple and I felt our magic connect together. For a moment, our magic forces were connected together as one, and I felt your presence flood into me. It was so warm and bright, unlike anything I had ever felt before, and I instantly just knew that you were half of me and without your warm touch, I could never be completely whole. Just like the one magic."  
><em>

_"But you just pulled your fingers away and acted like nothing had happened before standing up, thanking me and disappearing in the direction that _he_ had gone."  
>A faint memory stirred up in Aiko's mind, effectively confirming Zeref's statement.<br>"It took me a while to find you again, I used all of my connections to try and divulge your whereabouts, and I just couldn't find you. The only information I found was about a woman that looked like you except with green eyes instead of brown."  
><em>

_"Mama." The word escaped Aiko's lips before she could help it.  
><em>

_"Correct. My informer told me that she had gotten married to Jonathon Heartfilia, which explained what happened when our fingers brushed in the marketplace."  
>"How?" Aiko asked, curiosity over the man that was supposedly her father breaking through her fear.<br>"The bloodline that carries Love's magic is the Heartfilia bloodline."  
><em>

_Zeref looked at her smugly, having proven his point. Aiko just shook her head in disbelief, not willing to believe the insane story that he was spinning.  
>"For some reason, your mother ended up running away from her husband and making a break back to the village that she grew up in. But she was attacked by wolves on her way here and ended up dying. I think that she must have sealed your powers before she died, to make sure that no one came after your immense power." He finished triumphantly.<br>"No offence, Zeref, but I think you've got the wrong girl." Aiko told him dryly. If this was the supposed "death mage" she was really shocked that the army hadn't managed to pull him in yet. It was hard to believe that a crazy teenager had the whole kingdom in a panic.  
>"No, I haven't." He replied stubbornly. "You'll know too, when I remove the seal that she placed on you."<br>He let go of her face and placed his hand on her heart before closing his eyes and murmuring words that she couldn't quite catch, making it sound like he was just humming a tune. She snorted and looked away, waiting for him to stop and finally realize that the story that he'd been fed was nothing but a pack of lies. _

_But then she felt an explosion of pain erupt through her chest, making her tilt her head upward and scream like she had never screamed before. It felt like huge claws were slowly running their huge nails through her chest, tearing apart her lungs and stealing away her breath. She screamed and screamed and screamed, tears flowing like waterfalls down her face, until the pain disappeared as suddenly as it had come. She went limp instantly, the strain from going through the pain sapping her energy completely. _

_She had a second or two to breathe before she felt warmth begin to seep through her chest, along with an immense surge of magical power that flooded throughout her entire being. She felt as though two arms had wrapped themselves around her and were protecting her from everything evil around her. As though it was Love herself that had encircled her in her arms. She couldn't explain the feeling and it made her question her sanity, but she felt, rather than knew, that she _was_ the child of Love.  
><em>

_And then the arms were gone and she back in the wooden cabin, with Zeref holding her hands far above her head and leaning dangerously close to her.  
>She wasted no time in kicking herself away from him and ripping his arms off of hers, revitalized and strengthened with her new power. She threw open the door and ran off into the afternoon air, making it only a few steps before running right into Tatsuo.<br>_

_"Aiko!" He cried in relief, before wrapping his arms around her and clutching her tight to his body.  
>"Tatsuo!" She smiled before returning his embrace.<br>"Aiko!" She turned to see Blythe, Tetsu, Nerine and Yuki grinning at her in relief.  
>"How'd you get out of the barrier?" Blythe questioned, leaning back into Tetsu to support her weak knees.<br>Aiko frowned.  
>"Barrier?"<br>The others stared at her before Yuki went up and sent a punch flying through the air and hit something solid.  
>"This barrier." He nodded his head towards his fist.<br>Aiko just shook her head, unsure.  
>"I didn't even realize that there was barrier." She told them.<br>_

_"Yes, that's to be expected."  
><em>

_Aiko froze and gripped Tatsuo tighter to her.  
>"Stay away from Aiko, you bastard!" Tatsuo snarled at Zeref.<br>Zeref sighed dramatically.  
>"Oh, Ai, don't you know it's useless to escape me? The two of us are meant for each other, because only I'm the only one for you and you're the only one for me. We've belonged to each other long before you and <em>him_ have."  
>"Like hell you have!" Tatsuo roared back at him before putting Aiko behind him.<br>Zeref sighed again and glared at Tatsuo.  
>"Get a clue dragon-boy, can't you see that you're not needed here?"<br>Tatsuo cracked his knuckled together and growled in response.  
>"Ah, so you want to settle this with fists, huh?" Zeref smirked and dusted himself off before stepping through the barrier and walking right up to Tatsuo.<br>"You got this bro?" Tetsu called out from the sidelines.  
>"Yup." Tatsuo called back. "So you just stay put."<br>"What wonderful confidence you have." Zeref told him calmly.  
>"Kick his butt Tatsuo!" Blythe cheered from over on the sidelines.<br>_

_Zeref smiled slightly before gathering up his energy, only a slight black aura began to gather around his body, making Tatsuo laugh at his weak powers.  
>But Aiko felt a huge surge of magical energy gathering within him, enough to wipe out the whole village at the very least, and certainly enough to completely annihilate Tatsuo. She understood now how a single teenager could inspire fear throughout the kingdom. The amount of power he possessed was staggering and terrifying, but no one else could seem to feel it but her, and she knew that was the way that he had intended it. He sent a quick glance her way, just long enough for their eyes to meet and for her to see right through his twisted little plan. He wanted her to give herself over to him, or he would wipe out the whole village and Tatsuo before her very eyes.<br>_

_"Aiko, go over and hang out with Blythe for a while ok?"  
><em>

_Tatsuo was looking at her, with his usual confident smirk, already completely assured of his victory, his onyx eyes twinkling. She remembered all the times that he had stood up for her when she was little, defeating all the creepy crawlies and spiders that scared the living daylights out of her. She used to call him her knight in shining armor, but he had hated that, stating that he wasn't a pansy prince, but a brave and fierce dragon.  
>Looking back, she had never had a chance; he had stolen her heart before she was even aware that people could feel that way for each other.<br>Memories flew through her in that one moment, their first kiss under the moonlight when he had gotten jealous that she had been dancing with Yuki more than him, finally provoking him to confess his feelings for her and her to confess hers for him. The first time that he had sneaked into her room and fallen asleep to the lullaby that she had made up for him, snoring away and completely dead to the world.  
><em>

_She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping in between him and Zeref.  
><em>

_"Aiko?" The others called out in disbelief.  
>"Aiko, what are you doing?" Tatsuo hissed, reaching out to grab her arms and pull her away. She pushed his hands away and went back to glaring at Zeref.<br>"Aiko?" Tatsuo asked, confusion and a hint of fear flavoring his voice.  
>"This isn't about them." She told Zeref sternly, ignoring Tatsuo.<br>Zeref smiled.  
>"I completely agree." He replied steadily.<br>She took a deep breath and gathered her magical energy, feeling the warmth of her power flood her very being as a golden glow began to form around her.  
>"Aiko? What the hell do you think you're-?"<br>_

_**"Sweet dreams are made of these."**__  
>Aiko's sweet but melancholy voice filled the air as golden streams of ribbon began to cut off the two of them from Tatsuo and the others.<br>__**"Who am I to disagree?"  
><strong>__Aiko's hair flew upwards, mixing in the ribbons that flew out from the golden aura that surrounded her.  
><em>_**"Travel the world and the seven seas."  
><strong>__Blythe, Tetsu, Yuki and Nerine just gaped as her as the light completely enveloped her, blocking out her features and making her a silhouette lost in golden light.  
><em>_**"Everybody's looking for something."  
><strong>__Tatsuo ran forward to try and grab her, panic searing through him, but was thrown backwards onto the ground.  
><em>_**"Some of them want to use you."  
><strong>__"Aiko!" Blythe screamed, "What are you doing?" She tried to charge towards her but Tetsu grabbed her and held her back, ignoring her punches and attempts to free herself. His senses were telling him that letting Blythe charge into that golden light was a very, very bad idea.  
><em>_**"Some of them want to get used by you."  
><strong>__Tatsuo charged at the barrier again and beat against it with his fists, standing his ground instead of flying backwards again.  
>"Aiko! Stop it!" He hollered at her. "Aiko! Look at me!"<br>The golden silhouette froze for a moment before turning to face the only person that she would ever love. A tear ran down her cheek, invisible in the blinding light, but Tatsuo could still smell it.  
><em>_**"Some of them want to abuse you."  
><strong>__This time, the voice was begging Tatsuo to listen to it. He could smell more tears running down her face and he knew that something was very, very wrong.  
><em>_**"Some of them want to be abused."  
><strong>__The golden light rose to a blinding flash before shooting out of existence.  
>The group blinked their eyes rapidly to get the spots out of their vision and looked towards the place that Aiko had been standing.<br>There eyes were met with the image of Tatsuo slumped to his knees, staring into nothing, with Aiko nowhere in sight._

* * *

><p><em>Aiko coughed and tried to get air back into her lungs.<em>

_She had Zeref had been fighting every since she had transported the two of them out of there and cast the protective spell over the village. If they had fought within town, it would have resulted in the annihilation of everything around them. She knew because when they had first arrived at the battle place, it had been a huge, lush, flowery meadow ringed with trees. And now, three days later, the place was nothing more than a wasteland.  
><em>

_"Tired…Ai?" Zeref's exhausted voice came from behind her and she leaped forward._

_She turned to face him and saw her own face reflected back at her. Zeref was covered in bruises and scratches, and a couple of deep gashes along his arms and chest. Dirt and sweat covered the rest of him and his breath was coming in deep pants, just like hers. His lips were cracked, like hers, and a grumble erupted from both of their stomachs at the same time. She could feel her body beginning her to just fall down and let her eyes close shut so she could sleep for a while._  
><em>"Not even…close." She panted back at him, before raising her arms and shooting another beam of golden light at him, which he dodged easily before shooting a beam of black light at her. She moved her body a second too late and it scratched her left arm, giving her a small gash.<em>  
><em>"Are…you…sure? Zeref huffed back at her. "This can all…end, if…you'll just…agree… to be…with me…forever."<em>  
><em>"When…hell…freezes over." She half snarled half gaspe<em>d.

_"Aiko!"_

_**No.**__  
><em>

_She slowly turned her head to see Blythe, Tetsu, Yuki, Nerine and Tatsuo running up towards the two of them. How the hell had they managed to find her! Even with Tatsuo's amazing sense of smell, she had been careful to transport them far away enough for him to not be able to catch her scent in the wind.  
>With a start, she remembered the connection spell that Tatsuo had had Ankoku-sama place on the two of them, after she had got lost during a trip to the market place. All the different smells had assaulted his highly sensitive nose and rendered him unable to locate her scent among the thousands of others. They had eventually found each other, but Tatsuo had sworn that he would never lose her again and had asked Ankoku-sama to help him make sure that he wouldn't. Ankoku-sama had agreed and made the spell so that as long as the other person's heart was beating, you would always be able to find where they were.<br>_

_She mentally slapped herself; she had forgotten to cut off the connection when the battle had first started all those days ago.  
><em>

_Damn it!  
><em>

_Could they not tell that there was a reason she had transported the two of them away? _

_It was so that they wouldn't get involved! _

_It was all for them, damn it!  
><em>

_"What are you all doing here?" She panted, still catching her breath.  
>"Isn't it obvious, baka?" Tetsu snorted. "We've come to get you back." He scratched the back of his neck and avoided her eyes. "It's kind of boring without you around, you know? And plus this guy here," he nodded towards Tatsuo, "was so depressed with you gone that we figured we'd better come get you so you could cheer him up."<br>Aiko just gaped at him, fury pumping its way through her veins. Here she was, fighting with the "death mage" without any help at all, in order to keep them safe, and then they just showed up and treated everything like a freaking joke?  
>"We're here to kick that loser's butt!" Blythe called out triumphantly, fist pumping the air.<br>"Yeah, we'll give that stupid little "death mage freak a lesson he won't soon forget!" Yuki yelled, wrapping an arm around Nerine, who blushed deeply and nodded enthusiastically.  
><em>

_Aiko had never felt like strangling them as much as she did right then. What kind of idiots charge into battle knowing full well that their opponent is a psychotic mage that is the main source of terror for the whole kingdom?  
><em>

_Apparently, they did.  
><em>

_"Aiko."  
>She shifted her eyes over to Tatsuo, who had continued walking forward when the others had stopped at the edge of the meadow, or, what used to be the edge of a meadow.<br>Frustration ripped through her, couldn't they all get a clue?  
>"Why did you have to come?" She whispered, desperation tearing through her voice.<br>"You know why." He told her firmly, catching her eyes with his and refusing to let her tear them away. He took another few steps towards her and she found herself backing up, she couldn't let him touch her. If she did, all the fight would leave her and she would just collapse into his arms, begging him to make everything just go away for a while.  
>"I don't want you here." She tried to yell, but her voice was broken by another gasp for air.<br>"That's not true." Tatsuo was deadly calm.  
>She shook her head and backed up even farther away from him, pleading for someone to take them all away from her and put them somewhere safe. Fear was strangling her, rendering her vocal chords mute and filling her with frustration. She snuck a quick glance back towards Zeref, to make sure he wasn't planning anything and felt her heart stop. He was creating a dark energy ball, preparing to send it at them and effectively wipe them off the face of the earth. She turned back to Tatsuo and saw that he was only a few meters away from her now.<br>Wasting no time, she turned away from him and charged towards Zeref, ignoring her nakama's cries of protest and wrapped her arms around his neck before leaning up and capturing his lips around hers.  
><em>

_Complete silence filled the meadow as she kissed him, all the while struggling to control the shudders of disgust that she felt rippling through her. She hung on to his lips until she finally ran out of air. She pulled away, gasping for breath, and turned to see the shocked faces of her nakama.  
>"<em>_I __don't __want __you __here__." She told them, articulating every single syllable. _

_Tatsuo stared at her for a moment before snorting.  
>"C'mon, did you <em>actually_ think that was going to work?"  
>Aiko gripped Zeref tighter, hoping that this would somehow prove her feelings for him.<br>"I love him, and I don't want you here." She shoved the words of her mouth tried to shoot her best death glare at Tatsuo, but she was tired and really, all she felt like doing was falling into Tatsuo's arms and drifting away to sleep.  
><em>

_Tatsuo stood there for a moment and digested what she had said, before swiftly crossing the distance between them and stopping a few inches away from her face. He reached out his hand and gripped her arm tightly before yanking her away from Zeref and pulling her back a little distance away from him.  
>"Tatsuo! What's wrong with you?" She pulled her arm out his grip. "Can't you just accept that I don't love you anymore?" She felt like falling to her knees and begging him to just believe her and turn around and run for his life, but she stood tall and strong, giving him the best haughty look she could manage. "Please, just leave!"<br>Tatsuo said nothing and simply stared at her for a long time before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small dagger. Snatching her hand back up again, he forced her fist open and placed the dagger's hilt in the palm of her hand before closing her fingers around it and letting her hand go. She stared at it for a moment before shooting him a questioning look.  
><em>

_"I'm going to kill him." Tatsuo told her.  
><em>

_"What?" Had she heard him right?  
><em>

_"I'm going to kill that guy." He repeated, watching her carefully. "So if you really love him, the way that I know you love me," He nodded at the dagger. "You'll take that and kill me before I get the chance to."  
>She was flabbergasted.<br>"D-don't be stupid! Obviously I can't kill you!" She protested angrily.  
>He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.<br>"Why not?"  
>She clenched her fists and gripped the dagger tighter.<br>"B-b-because you're my friend! We grew up together!"  
>He nodded, chewing this over, a puzzled look on his face.<br>"So, you'd spare me, even if it meant that you lost the person that you love?"  
>"I'm not some heartless bitch who's just going to turn around and murder everybody that I lo-care about just because I'm in love with someone else!" She exploded at him, before taking several deep breaths to calm herself. "I-I-I'll just knock you out." She stuttered.<br>"Hmm, really?" He challenged softly.  
>She steadied herself and crouched into an attack position before leaping at Tatsuo, aiming for his pressure point. <em>

_Tatsuo didn't move until the last second, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into an embrace, locking her arms behind her back.  
>"Just so you know," He whispered softly in her ear, "You still haven't cut off the connection, so I can still hear everything your hearts whispering."<br>Aiko would've punched herself if he hadn't had he arms behind her back, damn that stupid connection! And damn those stupid crowded market places that had been the reason she had been stuck with it!  
>"I-I-I-I-" She chocked out, searching for an argument and coming up with absolutely nothing.<br>"Aiko." Tatsuo let go of her wrists and pulled back from her just enough so that their noses touched. "You are an absolutely terrible liar." And then he pulled her into a deep kiss, and she found herself collapsing into his embrace, just like she knew she would.  
><em>

_**"I never had a chance, did I?"**__She thought ruefully to herself as her hand opened and the dagger fell to the dead ground as her eyes fell shut. Tatsuo grinned into the kiss and opened his eyes to look smugly at Zeref, gripping Aiko tighter to him as he did so. The Death mage clenched his jaw before leaping at the two of them with a cry of rage.  
>Tetsu jumped between the two of them and blocked the attack for them, managing to deflect it and avoid most of the damage as well.<br>"Alright, you two, save the kissing for later would'ja?" Tetsu called back at them dryly.  
>"Sorry!" Tatsuo called back gleefully, before pulling Aiko further back. Blythe, Yuki and Nerine rushed forward to take their place.<br>_

_Aiko stared at the scene taking place in horror.  
><em>

_"I have to help them!" She cried and tried to free herself from Tatsuo's arms but he gripped her tightly, stopping her from going anywhere. "Let me go!"  
>"Aiko, just calm down ok? We have a plan."<br>That made her stop and she turned to look at him in shock.  
>"<em>You guys_, have a _plan_?"  
>Tatsuo nodded.<br>"One that you actually thought out ahead of time and didn't just come up with right now?" She questioned suspiciously.  
>"Yeah, ok I know we're not the most organized people around-"<br>"Understatement of the millennia." She informed him bluntly.  
><em>_"Anyway," He continued loudly, "We talked it over with Ankoku-sama before we left and she said that the only way she could think of for you to defeat him is to cast a Omae chi spell on him."  
><em>_She sent him a strange look for a moment before face palming herself.  
><em>_"Do you mean an Amai Shi spell?" She asked patiently. It was a spell that was used to send people who were completely evil to the next life. You sang them to death, but with the full knowledge that they would be reborn again soon, without any memories of their past life and a chance to start again.  
><em>_"Yeah, that was it!" Tatsuo exclaimed happily before reaching into the back pocket of his pants and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "Oh, and Ankoku-sama and Lani were following us to take care of our injuries later." He handed it to her triumphantly and grinned again. She straightened out the page and read the directions that Ankoku-sama had sent her in her slanted, curvy writing. She felt a shock of hope shoot through her as the thought of victory occurred to her for the first time in three days, but after studying it for a moment or two the hope vanished.  
><em>_"It would take me five minutes to complete this spell!" She cried. "_And_ I have to stay within the magic circle while I'm casting it!" She looked at Tatsuo in disbelief. How the hell am I supposed to cast it while I'm fighting him?"  
><em>_"We worked that out too." He told her confidently. "Blythe, Yuki, Nerine and Tetsu will hold him off while you cast the spell and I'll hang back here and protect you should he try anything sneaky."_

_Aiko crossed her arms.  
>"You honestly didn't think I was going to agree to this did you?"<br>Tatsuo's face fell and he shot her a pleading look.  
>"Aiko, c'mon."<br>She shook her head rapidly.  
>"No! It's stupid and way to dangerous for you guys to just fight him on your own!" She contested, her eyes glinting sharply.<br>"There's no other way!" Tatsuo protested angrily. "Now c'mon, the sooner you cast the spell, the sooner we call all go home."  
><em>

_"Yeah, C'mon Aiko," Yuki called from over by Zeref. "I want to be home for dinner."  
>"But-"<br>"Geez, have a little faith is us won't you?" Blythe pouted, sticking her tongue out playfully at Aiko.  
>Aiko observed the determination on her nakama's faces and knew that she had lost long before the argument had even started. Figures. They spend all of their lives just winging it and making things along as they went, and now that things were actually serious, they were hanging onto an <em>actualplan_ with an iron grip. She laughed bitterly and ran a hand through her hair. She swore they could be so damn frustrating sometimes.  
><em>

_Reluctantly she nodded at Tatsuo.  
><em>

_"Ok, let's do this."  
>Instantly, his grin was back.<br>"Alright!" he cried out happily.  
>"Now that you're heartwarming little moment is over," Zeref called over, taking a moment to yawn before continuing. "Shall we start?"<br>The others readied themselves as Aiko started to draw a circle in the dirt with her finger. She struggled to ignore the war cries and flashes of magic, but managed to finish drawing the circle. She opened the paper and cleared her throat to begin, when Tatsuo put his hands over her ears and stood in front of her, blocking the others from her sight and rendering her almost completely deaf. When he saw her questioning look, he just nodded towards the paper and looked down at the ground. She looked back to the paper and began singing, in the same melancholy voice that had come over her in the village, the words that Ankoku-sama had written. She had to work hard to keep her voice calm and steady.  
><em>

_**"Out on the road there are fireflies circling  
>Deep in the woods, where the lost souls hide<br>Over the hill there are men returning  
>Trying to find some peace of mind<br>Sleep my child."  
><strong>_

_A golden glow tunnel of light was beginning to form around the circle, enveloping Aiko in its light. Delicate, fluttering wings were beginning to unfold out of her back, making a slight fluttering sound as they did so. But she remained oblivious to the world around her, lost in the spell. __**  
><strong>_

_**"Under the fog there are shadows moving  
>don't be afraid, hold my hand<br>into the dark there are eyelids closing  
>Buried alive in the shifting sands<br>Sleep my child"  
><strong>_

_Suddenly Tatsuo removed his hands from her ears and she was thrust back into the chaos of the real world. She blinked rapidly and saw Zeref standing only a few meters away from the two of them, breathing rapidly, a crazed look in his eyes. Aiko could see that he was only a few moments away from drawing his last. She had sung him the lyrics that would send him to the next life, but she still had to sing the ones that would erase his memories.  
>"Did you really think that they ever really stood a chance against me?" He hissed painfully, black fire dancing around his body. "Move aside dragon-boy, I can't have her but that doesn't mean that I'm letting you run off into the sunset together happily" He snarled but it sounded delicate almost, as the spell had already stolen away most of his life force. "If I die, then she's coming with me!"<br>"In your sick twisted dreams." Tatsuo snarled viscously before stepping in front of her blocking Zeref from her view.  
>"Tatsuo-!"<br>"Keep going!" He called over her shoulder before cracking his knuckles. "I'll stall him."  
>"But-!"<br>"Keep going!" He yelled, his voice cracking a bit at the end.  
>She looked at him for moment, fear clutching at her heart, before steadying herself and starting to sing again.<em>_**  
><strong>_

_**"Speak to me now"  
><strong>__Tatsuo charged at Zeref with a vicious war cry, brilliant fire wrapped dangerously around his fist.__**  
>"And the world will crumble"<br>**__ Zeref neatly dodged this and sent a punch at Tatsuo's face as he passed, catching him right in the nose. Aiko heard a sickening crack and a grunt of pain, and her voice faltered a little bit.__**  
>"Open a door"<br>**__Tatsuo turned to send another punch flying at Zeref, but the latter was quicker shot a dark energy ball straight at his chest. Tatsuo gave a cry of pain and Aiko's heart froze for a moment, but he just straightened up and turned back to Zeref, blood already beginning to seep through his vest.  
>She had to finish up fast.<em>_**  
>"And the moon will fall"<br>**__"Fire dragon's roar!" Tatsuo cried out before sending a stream of flames straight at Zeref. The death mage sidestepped it again, but not fast enough, and his cloak burst into flames. __**  
>"All of your life,"<br>**__Tatsuo grinned at his near hit and prepared to send another one, but Zeref had already thrown off his cloak and sent dark slicers at Tatsuo. They hit his arms, leaving long deep gashes before disappearing. Tatsuo hissed in pain but remained standing.__**  
>"All your memories"<br>**__"Still standing dragon boy?" Zeref called mockingly. "We better fix that." He made a slicing motion with his hand and the air was filled with another sickening crack as Tatsuo howled in pain and dropped to the ground. Aiko had to bite her lip to keep from screaming, breaking the tender skin and causing blood to run down her chin.__**  
>"Go to your dreams,"<br>**__Zeref was gathering a ball of energy in his hands, making it grow bigger and bigger by the second. He looked at Tatsuo with a sadistic grin of anticipation, licking his lips lightly, as though he had already killed him. Aiko glanced at Tatsuo, silently begging him with her might to get up.__**  
>"Forget it all"<br>**__"Goodbye Dragon-boy." Zeref laughed manically and put his hands out in front of him. Aiko felt panic spread through her veins like wildfire, Tatsuo was trying hard to get up, but even if he did, there was no way he would be able to block the attack in time. __**  
><strong>_

_"TATSUO!"  
><em>

_She ran just as he released the energy ball before collapsing to the ground, his last breath flying out of him. She ran past the golden tunnel of light and straight into the path of Zeref's attack. Spreading her arms wide, she blocked Tatsuo and took the attack herself, closing her eyes as the dark ball flew collided with her, bracing herself for the pain that was about to it her.  
>But nothing happened.<br>She opened her eyes, carefully examining the scene before her for the dark ball, and froze when her eyes landed on Zeref's crumpled figure.  
>He lay on stomach with his left hand underneath him and right arm hanging limply behind him, eyes closed, with several gashes and bruise marks from his various opponents.<br>_

_And it just…hit her.  
><em>

_She had killed him.  
><em>

_Wait, why was she freaking out? She had known what the spell was, what it would do, and she had still gone through with casting. It had been the only way to beat him, rather than be caught in an endless cycle.  
><em>

_But…  
><em>

_It ripped at her. The realization that she had killed someone, even though she knew he was going to be reborn again soon and that he would probably be much happier than he was now, raked across her frozen heart, guilt and horror pouring out of the wounds.  
>She shouldn't be feeling guilty; he had probably stolen thousands of people's lives away from them.<br>_

_It was good that he was dead.  
><em>

_Except it wasn't.  
><em>

_Even if she knew that the result would be better for all of them, it didn't give her the right to play God and decide for Zeref that it was time to end his life. Thunder rumbled through the air and rain began to pour down from the heavens, quickly soaking her to the bone as she struggled to come to terms with the fact that she had stolen someone's life away. She was no better than Death in the song, telling the child to hush and just let her kill him. Her hands reached up to clutch at her face and she took in deep breaths, desperate for someone to tell her that it hadn't been her fault and that she wasn't the one to blame, before becoming aware that she was smearing something wet down her face. Slowly, she removed her hands to inspect them and began to shake at what she saw.  
><em>

_Blood._

_Why was there so much blood?_

_I__t covered her dress, staining the pure white red forever._

_It was all over her hands._

_There were traces on her face._

_It tainted the tips of her hair._

_She felt it trickle down her legs._

_There was too much of it._

_She hadn't thought that a person could bleed this much._

_There was way too much of it._

_She knew that._

_You couldn't bleed this much and live._

_There was no way._

_And it still poured out._

_Why wouldn't it stop?_

"_Aiko." A voice whispered._

His_ voice._

_She turned and looked into his onyx eyes, feeling the tears begin to pool in her own. They ran down her face and mingled with the rain that fell in a heavy stream. Her hair clung to the sides of her face, her back, and her chest. Off to the side, she could see Yuki and Nerine lying hand in hand, unconscious and badly hurt with their breathing beginning to slow. Tetsu and Blythe were lying in a pool of blood with their arms wrapped around each other stiffly. Their breath had left them a while ago._

_And him._

_His face was covered in scratches and cuts along with a bruise around his eye and cheekbone. His nose looked broken and there were long jagged cuts along his arms. His chest was bleeding heavily from a blow that he had received at the start of the battle and his leg was bent at an unnatural angle, which told her that it was most likely broken. His clothes were torn and, judging by his difficulty breathing, he had a few broken ribs that might have pierced one of his lungs._

_He had gone through so much pain._

_And it was all her fault._

_She had caused this._

_How could she have done this to them?_

_They were her family, and she had killed them._

"_I'm sorry." She whispered, guilt wracking her already cracked voice. She tried to make it to him, but stumbled forward and collapsed._

"_No! Aiko!" He cried out in anguish as she fell to the ground, meters away from the one that had caused all this blood. He crawled to her side and pushed himself up beside her painfully before pulling her into his arms. She was breathing heavily and with every breath it was becoming harder to draw another one. He tore off his already ripped shirt and tied it around the hole in her stomach in an attempt to stop the blood but she knew it was too late. "Just hold on!" He begged her, his voice desperate. "Just stay with me! Ankoku-sama and Lani will be here soon! Please!" He gripped her tighter to him as though, by holding her to him, he would be able to keep her by his side._

_He was so warm._

_She was so cold._

_She could feel the coldness begin to spread through her from the hole in her stomach. And it quickly consumed her until she couldn't feel his warm touch on her skin anymore. She struggled to raise her hand to touch his face and wipe away the tears that were falling in a steady stream. "I'm…sorry. It…looks…like…I'll…have to…leave…you…after all." Her hand began to fall and he grabbed it hard enough for her to feel it in her numb state._

_"You aren't going to leave me! You promised that you wouldn't leave me!" He roared savagely into the night air._

_But she barely managed to hear him._

_She smiled softly. "I…know…I'm so…sorry…for…give me…" Tatsuo's arms started to shake as he held her and his tears dripped down onto her neck. But she no longer had the strength to brush them away. She didn't want to see him like this; she wanted her last memory of him to be one of his smiling face. Not one tainted with the blood of his loved ones and tears that could have been prevented, had she possessed the strength required to beat death._

_The coldness seemed to have reached her brain and she felt her eyes begin to close. "Tatsuo…I…love…you…" She was glad she managed to tell him that, at the end. "No, Aiko!" As her eyelids shut, utter blackness consumed her. The last thing she heard was a soul piercing cry of absolute heart wrenching loss._

"AIKO!"

* * *

><p><em>Tatsuo stared into the face of his beloved as he caressed her gently, knowing that she could no longer feel it spurred on his tears, causing them to drip down on her perfect cheek.<em>

_Damn it!_

_If only he had managed to get up faster! Then she wouldn't have jumped in the way to save him, and-_  
><em>He broke off that train of thought, not ready to think about the way that the dark mass had ripped through her and the guilt and horror that he had smelt coming off her as she had stared at that bastard's body.<em>

_She had felt guilty that she had killed him!_

_Only Aiko would be that softhearted as to blame herself for killing a heartless, psychotic serial killer._

_"__Is she gone?"_

_He tore his gaze away from Aiko and turned to see Ankoku-sama standing there with a distant expression on her face. He opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to make his voice come out, so he settled for nodding._  
><em>Ankoku-sama stood still for a moment before walking over and kneeling beside him. She took off the black bag that she was carrying, and glanced over at the others.<em>  
><em>"Are they gone as well?" She asked wearily.<em>

_Tatsuo nodded again.  
><em>

_"I thought so, I could feel their spirits pass by when we were making our way up here, so I told Lani to wait for me in the woods."  
>Tatsuo knew that she wanted him to respond, but his vocal chords still weren't working, so he just nodded again.<br>Ankoku-sama's gaze travelled over Aiko's body for a few moments before she opened her bag and pulled out her stellar key ring.  
>""I am connected with the path to the spirit world. Heed my call and come forth, king of the spirits." All the keys began glowing, the light growing brighter and brighter as her watched. A swirling portal of stars appeared along with a huge golden gate that flung open to reveal an enormous man with a gigantic mustache.<br>Tatsuo recalled a dim memory of Aiko telling him about the Stellar Spirit King. Supposedly, he ruled over all the spirits and acted as a kind of diplomat on their behalf. She had said that Ankoku-sama had talked to him a lot, but she had never seen him herself. _

_He could just imagine her sitting beside him, an awed expression on her face as she stared up at the Spirit King.  
><em>

_The Spirit King surveyed the scene before him with a grim expression before turning his gaze to Ankoku-sama. __**  
><strong>__"I take it that it didn't go well." The Spirit King said, looking at Tetsu, Blythe, Yuki and Nerine all lying cold and lifeless in the wasteland that surrounded them.  
>Ankoku-sama shook her head.<br>"She managed to defeat him, but she and many others lost their lives in the process." She glanced at Aiko for a moment before turning back to the Spirit King.  
>"I can feel that her spirit has moved on, but I don't know whether or not she will be reincarnated or not."<br>Tatsuo looked at Ankoku-sama in confusion. "What's reincarnation?"  
>"It's when you die and your soul is reborn into a new body." She told him before turning back to the King. "And if that happens, I have to take certain precautions.<br>"You can have whatever you need." The Stellar Spirit King assured her._

"_I'll need someone from the spirit world to became a fallen star and watch over her through her next life."  
>The Spirit King stiffened instantly and opened his mouth to argue but Ankoku-sama simply held up her hand.<br>"And, I'll need everyone here to be reincarnated into her life again."  
>"Everyone? Does that mean we'll all get to see each other again?" Tatsuo asked cautiously.<br>Ankoku-sama nodded at him quickly before turning back to the Spirit King, patiently waiting for an answer. Tatsuo felt happiness and relief flood his body; he was going to see Aiko again!_

_The Spirit King stared at her for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.  
>"What a fine mess this is." He muttered. "Alright, I'll check whether or not she's going to be reborn and if she is I'll ask Scarlet to follow her to the next life and I'll make sure the rest of you follow her as well."<br>He turned to go but stopped.  
>"And, I'm sorry for your loss."<br>Ankoku-sama said nothing and the Spirit King turned back and disappeared through the golden gates.  
>"When am I going to see Aiko again?" Tatsuo asked impatiently, clutching her body close to his, as though this would speed up the process.<br>Ankoku-sama turned back to him and regarded him coldly.  
><em>

_"Don't get your hopes up; we don't even know if she's going to be reincarnated yet. And even if she is, you'll only see her again after you die and are reborn, so you'll have to wait a very long time."  
>Tatsuo's hopes sunk like a stone.<br>Ankoku-sama turned back to her bag and pulled out her medical supplies.  
>"Anyway, for now we have to treat your wounds." She pulled out an anti-septic salve made of herbs that she grew in her garden and began applying it to his various cuts and scratches. He didn't even react to the slight stinging pain; it was a welcome alternative to the pain that was raging through him at the thought of living the rest of his life without Aiko. The thought of killing himself crossed his mind, but he shoved that away, if he ever met Aiko again, she would hate him for throwing away the life that she had given him. And he couldn't let his parents lose both of their sons and his sisters lose both of their brothers.<br>_

_Tetsu.  
><em>

_With a start, he realized that it wasn't just Aiko that he had lost. His best friend and rival, Yuki, and two friends Blythe and Nerine were gone as well.  
><em>

_Out of everyone that had gone up there, he was the only one who had survived.  
><em>

_How was he going to tell his parents? How was he going to tell their parents? Oh sorry, but your son/daughter was killed along with the person that we were trying to protect. But don't worry! The bad guy's dead too. Plus, I'm alive!  
><em>

_Ankoku-sama paused while she applying the anti-septic balm and pulled his left arm towards him, inspecting it carefully before checking over the rest of his exposed skin.  
>"What?" Tatsuo asked, not noticing until she was almost done, lost in the loss that was crushing him from all sides. Ankoku-sama didn't say anything for a moment and pulled out a notebook, flipping for the pages as though she was looking for something. Finally, she paused and ran her finger down the page, stopping when she found what she was looking for. She read over the short paragraph, then read it over again, and again until she slowly closed the book and stored it away in her bag.<br>"What?" Tatsuo snapped, he was at the end of his rope and it was beginning to fray into several pieces.  
>Ankoku-sama appeared to take a deep breath before plunging right into it.<br>"You have several black marks around the areas where Zeref's attacks hit you."  
><em>_"__I'm thinking that would be dirt?" Tatsuo pointed out._

_Ankoku-sama shook her head.  
><em>

_"They don't rub away, and I've heard of people that have survived being attacked by Zeref having these marks too." She paused for a moment and looked over his marks again, double-checking that she was correct, before continuing. "They're called "Death's Marks" and they gradually drain someone's life force away from them."  
>Tatsuo stared at her in disbelief.<br>"Judging by the number of marks, I'd say you have a few days left at best." Ankoku-sama finished quietly.  
>"So, let me get this straight. You mean I have to go back to the village, explain to everybody that their loved ones aren't coming back and then tell my parents that their son died and that their other son is going to die soon as well?" Tatsuo asked angrily, but his anger wasn't directed at her. His anger was directed towards the limp body about a hundred meters away from him.<br>_

_"I'm sorry."  
><em>

_Tatsuo nearly jumped out of his skin from shock, Ankoku-sama _never_ apologized.  
>Ankoku-sama was turned towards him; tears piling up in her brown eyes and spilling down onto her face, making her wrinkles seem deeper.<br>And she _never_ cried  
>She looked exhausted, like she might collapse at any moment.<br>"I'm so sorry." She croaked out quietly, sobs started to wrack her frail body.  
>"It's fine, just…stop." Tatsuo strangled out, unable to escape the feeling that is was Aiko he was staring at.<br>She nodded, but the tears still ran down her face with the sobs growing steadily louder.  
>"Hey, c'mon, it's ok. It's not a big deal, you're going to see all of us again."<br>"You baka, did you forget? That's only if she's reincarnated." Ankoku-sama spat out bitterly.  
>"I know." Tatsuo told her.<br>_

_There was a moment of silence as his gaze travelled back to the limp girl in his arms. Gently, he tucked her hair behind her ears and ran his fingers along her cheek.  
>"But I also know," He said firmly, breaking the silence. "That I'll be seeing you all again."<br>He turned to look at Ankoku-sama and grinned, making more tears flow down her cheek.  
>"Aiko was right, you really are a baka." She told him, sniffing slightly.<br>If anything, that made his grin even wider.  
><em>

* * *

><p>Lucy stood quietly looking up the sky through the window in her bedroom. It looked dark and unwelcoming, with thunder rumbling in the distance and a light rain beginning to drizzle down onto the meadow below. She turned away from the stormy weather and looked around her bedroom. It had a four-poster bed with rainbow sheets and curtains, a blue couch, a white door that connected to a library, a pink door that led to her personal bathroom and a huge closet filled with clothes. The walls and ceiling were black, but covered with little white dots that she assumed were supposed to be stars.<p>

She also assumed that the lines that connected them were supposed to make the constellations.  
>She traced the figure of Virgo, who was on the wall beside the window, and wondered how her stellar spirits were holding up. She had felt Loki searching for her, but for some reason his magic always just brushed past her, never actually reaching her. She supposed that Zeref had put up some sort of barrier to block her magical abilities.<p>

"Ai."

She turned around to see Zeref standing in her doorway, his eyes traveling up and down the pink nightgown that she was dressed in. It was an exact replica of the one that she had worn that night so many years ago, when she had snuck out of the manor to meet him. Except it was a soft rose pink, with a darker pink ribbon tied at the wrists. Nightgowns of every color of the rainbow were the only thing relatively resembling pajamas among the clothes that Zeref had put in the closet for her.  
>"Yes?" She asked quietly, dreading his answer.<br>Zeref carefully entered the room and crossed over to where she was standing before pulling her into his embrace.  
>"I can't sleep." He mumbled into her hair.<br>"Really?" She questioned.  
>He nodded and pulled her closer.<br>"Will, you sing me a lullaby?" He asked, his voice small and childlike.

His voice reminded her of a certain pink-haired dragon-slayer that had snuck into her bedroom, bruised and battered from training, with sleep hiding just out of his reach.

She found herself nodding and he took her hand and led her back to his bedroom.  
>Everything was white, with little splashes on colors adorning the walls and the bed covers. Glancing around, she saw that he also had his own personal bathroom and couch. He let go of her hand and crawled beneath the covers before beckoning her over. She noticed that he had set up a chair next to his side of the bed and she slowly crossed the room before sitting herself down in it.<br>"Are you ready?" She asked.  
>He nodded and she closed her eyes and began to sing.<br>**  
>"Sleep pretty darling do not cry<br>And I will sing a lullaby.  
>Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,<br>****Smiles await you when you rise.  
><strong>**Sleep-"**

"No."

Her eyes flickered open and she looked at him questioningly.  
>"What's wrong?" She asked, confused.<br>"I don't want you to sing that song." He told her, rolling his eyes slightly.  
>"What song then?" She asked patiently, feeling like she was dealing with a child.<br>"His song."  
>Her heart skipped a beat.<br>"How did you find out about that?" She demanded.  
>Zeref shrugged and curled tighter into his blankets.<br>"I was walking past your house one night and heard you singing it to him." He yawned. "Now, can you hurry up? I'm pretty tired."  
>Lucy stared at him for a moment, unwilling to let the song spill out of her lips.<br>"It's a pretty short song." She told him, desperately hoping that this would make him pick another song. Any other song would do. "I don't think it'll be enough to put you asleep."  
>"Let me be the judge of that." Zeref told her.<br>"I can't really remember it that well." She tried again.  
>"If you don't sing it, then we'll just have to stay up the whole night together." He stated, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.<br>She stared at him for a moment longer before giving in and reluctantly closing her eyes again.

**"Just close your eyes,  
><strong>

**the sun is going down.  
><strong>

**You'll be all right;  
><strong>

**no one can hurt you now.  
><strong>

**Come morning light,  
><strong>

**you and I'll be safe  
><strong>

**and  
><strong>

**s****ound."**

A soft snoring alerted her to the fact that Zeref had fallen asleep, and she cautiously opened her eyes before making her way gingerly out of the room and running back along the corridors to her room.

_"Hey, Aiko?" Tatsuo murmured softly into her ear, sleep having finally sunk its hooks into him.  
>"Yes?" She yawned.<br>"Promise never to sing that song to anybody but me, ok?" Tatsuo said sleepily, clutching her closer to him, his warm breath tickling her cheek and making her even more drowsy.  
>"Mmhmm." She managed; sleep beginning to tear away the last of her consciousness.<br>"Promise?" Tatsuo questioned again.  
>"Yes, Tatsuo, I promise. Now go to sleep."<br>_

"Gomen." Lucy said quietly, once again in her bedroom and looking up at the stormy sky. "It seems I'm not very good at promises, huh?" She asked the room, but it remained silent, refusing to relinquish an answer for her.  
>Lightning forked through the sky as the rain increased, drumming against the window panes with such force that she wondered if they would break. Thunder rumbled loudly in the distance as her eyelids gradually slid closed to the lullaby of the storm.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>I do not own any of the songs that were sung in this chapter.<br>Death whispered a lullaby is by Opeth  
>Sweet dreams are made of these is by Emily Browning<br>Safe and Sound is by Taylor Swift (GO HUNGER GAMES!)  
>I OWN NOTHING<strong>

**Except the plot...  
>Thanks for reading ^^ <strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Hi Minna~! ^^  
>*Ducks as various sharp and pointy projectiles are flung at hurricane force speeds*<br>AH! I'M SORRY! ToT I'M SO SORRY.  
>*sinks to the ground and bows towards readers and reviewers*<br>I am soo so sorry. I should have updated this ages and ages ago, but stuff went down and then I went to  
>The UK to visit family and I didn't bring my computer and this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I have yet to write the<br>last part and I figured you guys deserved a chapter after putting up with me for so long.  
>So yeah, this is the second to last chapter, please enjoy and accept my heartfelt apologies.<br>*holds out box*  
>Cookie?<br>I changed the rating on this for the domestic abuse that comes into play. I figure that's more mature readers than  
>teen readers. I apologize for the rating going up. *bows*<p>

As for this whole story, **I don't own anything.**

**Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima. **  
><strong>Please support the official release.<br>Warning: Trigger for Domestic Abuse  
>Swearing,<br>Fighting.**

* * *

><p>Sunlight shone directly onto Lucy's face, making her groan and reach down to pull the covers over her head. When her fingers brushed the carpet instead, her eyes flicked open and she sat up. Realizing that she had fallen asleep on the floor, she groaned and rolled her neck from side to side, trying to work out her discomfort.<p>

Why the hell had she decided to sleep on the floor?

Suddenly, the events of last night came crashing down on her head and she paused in her neck motion before bringing her head carefully back to it's normal position and letting it rest in her hands. She closed her eyes and the scene ran through her mind: his hand gripping hers, the strange look in his eyes as he asked her to sing the lullaby that was only meant for Tatsuo's ears and no one else's.

No, not Tatsuo's

Natsu's  
>She blinked as the thought slithered softly through her brain.<br>Everything that had happened with them when they were Aiko and Tatsuo, did they suddenly merge and meld together with all the memories that they already had? It was confusing, and for a moment she struggled to remember how she and Ta-_**Natsu **_had met. There had been a wizard that was pretending to be Natsu and had caught Lucy in his spell and then Natsu had arrived and broken it. And then he had grabbed her hand and asked her if she wanted to play ball with him and Yuki. He had smiled widely when she said yes before dragging her up the street of the village that they had grown up in and introducing her to his best friend and rival. And then she had taken him out for lunch after that as thanks and explained how she was a mage and wanted to join Fairy Tail. Then she had headed home, carefully avoiding Ankoku-sama and her cold glare, and curled up in her bed with a book.

That didn't sound right.

She had been running away from home when she met Natsu, and she was fairly certain she wouldn't have agreed to play "ball" with someone she had just met.

She had been _seventeen,_ not _seven_, when they two of them had met.

…What was she supposed to call him?

Tatsuo?

Natsu?

Did anything that had happened between Aiko and Tatsuo have meaning now that they were Lucy and Natsu?

Or did nothing they had done together as Lucy and Natsu have meaning?

Which name were you supposed to pick?

Which life were you supposed to carry out?

Was Aiko Lucy?

Was Lucy Aiko?

Which was which?

She shook her head and berated herself for getting so wrapped up in it. Did it really matter? She had been Lucy for eighteen years

But she was also Aiko.

She pushed herself up and made her way towards the closet to look for something to wear today, desperately shoving away that train of though to the back of her mind. It didn't matter what lifestyle she tried to live out.  
>She wouldn't really be living for the rest of her life anyway.<br>Stuck in this house, with Zeref being the only other person she ever saw.  
>She paused on her way to pick out a bright orange tank top that had a much higher neck-line that would she would normally wear and felt a tiny whimper escape from her throat.<p>

Her hand shook slightly as the images bombarded her.

Stuck there, being Zeref's….she didn't know what, forced to talk to him, to make meals, to sit there quietly and not complain. Separating her time into acquiescing to her every demand, and tiptoeing around him in an attempt to let the rest of the guild live out their lives in peace.  
>Living out the rest of her life here, stuck like a bird in a cage, the ironic thing being that she had<em> chosen<em> to be there.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to be somewhere where she could never spread her desperately aching wings and soar into the open blue sky and feel the wind rush through her blonde hair.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up her wonderful, warm and cozy apartment that was always having the misfortune to be broken into by her non-door using Nakama.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up her wonderful, caring Nakama who had been the first people that she had ever truly considered her family besides her mother.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up that beautiful smile that had enchanted her from the first moment that had first laid eyes on it.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up those wondrous onyx eyes that could somehow convey all the things that his vocal cords couldn't manage.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up the warm arms that encircled her, filling her with so much love that she was sure that she would be smothered by it.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give up on the soft lips that carefully moved to capture her own, a strange gentleness that contradicted to his every other aspect.  
>She had <em>chosen<em> to give him up.  
>She had <em>chosen <em>to seal away her very heart.

_**"No."**_ Lucy told herself quietly, _**"You **_**chose**_** to keep him **_**safe**_**."**_

She leaned against the frame of the closet door for a while, breathing deeply and trying to calm down the sudden swell of emotion that was threatening to choke her. There was no use boo-hooing and crying about it now, she knew that. Zeref would just take it as a sign that she really couldn't forget about Natsu as long as she knew he was alive and would swiftly fix that. And that was something that she could absolutely not let happen, it was the reason that she had done this after all. To keep Natsu and the others safe and, complicated dramatic author thoughts and heart pains be damned, that was exactly what she was going to do.

It was going to kill her, but better her than him.

After a few deep breaths, she tugged the bright orange shirt off its hanger and pulled it over her head before grabbing a pair of black jeans and shoving herself into them.

Making her way to the bathroom, she washed her face and moved to tie up her hair in its usual side ponytail with an orange ribbon. Once she was done this, she made her way downstairs towards the rainbow kitchen that had a different color on every appliance and surface. Pulling open the glass door that led to the kitchen, she looked around to check if Zeref was already there and couldn't stop the sigh of relief that whooshed out of her when he wasn't. Carefully entering the room, just in case he was there and had chosen to hide for now, she walked towards the cupboards and mused over what to eat.  
>"Good morning Sunshine."<br>She turned her head and saw Zeref leaning casually against the doorway, smiling up at her softly. He was dressed in a pair of white and gold pajamas, his black hair sticking out in all directions.

_The way Natsu's hair did.  
><em>

It was strange how you missed someone. Things that you never realized you noticed suddenly jumped out at you every time you breathed in. The smell of flowers would remind you of the intense sense of smell that someone had. Or chocolate cake in the freezer and ready-made salads in the fridge would remind you of someone's strange sense of taste. And when you thought about their sense of taste, without warning the memory of their warm lips pressed against yours would float into your mind, leaving you hungry for their warm embrace. But when you stepped forward and reached out to wrap yourself around them, all you were met with was hard ground when you lost your footing and fell through the place that they were supposed to be. And then night air would rustle through and cause shivers to run down your spine, accompanied by the bitter tears that left you feeling as though someone had ripped your heart out and left you there to bleed. But that was not the worst part, the worse was when you no longer had any tears left and all that remained was a deep, dull penetrating ache in your heart that never truly went away. Like a ghost that was bound to haunt you eternally it kept you up in the night, refusing to let your eyes fall closed and allow you to drift away peacefully. It was at times like that when you wished that your heart really had been ripped out, at least then you could cry and try to release the pain that made your body feel ten tons heavier than it should be.  
>As if she wasn't having a hard enough time trying to forget this morning as it was, now she had a huge sense of longing dangling like an anchor attached to her heart as well.<p>

She forced herself to smile back sweetly, but the corners of her mouth still twitched slightly.  
>"Good morning." She replied quietly, before turning back to the cupboard and pulling out a box of cereal. "I'm just getting breakfast." She motioned to the cereal box in her hand. "Would you like some?"<br>Zeref tapped his fingers on his chin in thought before striding in confidently and taking a seat at the table.  
>"Nah, actually, I'm kind of in the mood for an omelet. But I don't know how to make one, do you?"<br>Not trusting herself to speak (on the grounds that she was inwardly seething at the idea that she was being treated like a regular, boring old housewife who had nothing better to do then sit at home and read/knit) she turned and put the cereal box back in the cupboard before rummaging in the fridge for the ingredients. After shoving things aside several times to try and find both the ingredients and relieve her anger at the same time, she realized with dread that she was going to have to talk to him again.

"Looks like we'll have to have something else." She told him lightly. "You don't have any milk."  
>Zeref got up from his seat and made his way over to the fridge, nudging her lightly aside before searching through the fridge himself. Her body tensed at the contact between them and she withdrew back to the bar counter top. After coming to the same conclusion that she had, he pulled back and sighed.<br>"Nothing for it I guess." She felt her shoulders drop a millimeter in relief that he hadn't gotten upset before she went to the cupboard and pulled out the cereal box again.  
>"I'll just have to go and get some milk." He made his way to the door as she felt surprise creep through her. "Do you want anything else while I'm gone?" He called over his shoulder.<br>"You don't have to go." She told him half-heartedly, struggling to keep the smile from bursting out on her face.  
>"I can make something else for you."<br>He just smiled at her and continued out the kitchen.  
>"I'll be back in about an hour or two, wait for me, would you?"<br>There was a faint popping sound and the flicker of flames in the hallways before deafening silence filled the house.

She leaned against the bar counter top and sighed, feeling the tension fall away from her body, before a giggle ripped through her lips.  
>The almighty "death mage", that had held Fiore in an iron grip of fear, likes <em>omelets<em>.  
>She clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop further giggles from pushing through, but to no avail. She found herself slowly giving into the laughter that wracked her body, part of her wondering if she had gone mad. She didn't know why she found the idea so funny.<br>Perhaps it was the sheer _lunacy_ of it that amused her.  
>Or maybe it was the sheer <em>normality<em> of it that amused her.  
>The idea that the "death mage" could have a preference for breakfast, or that he even ate breakfast just like she did, made her laugh until tears ran down her face. And that he went to the store and bought milk while surrounded by other normal shoppers people going through their daily routine of normal life, unaware that the scariest mage in the whole fucking universe was standing in front of them in line, chatting pleasantly to the cashier like nothing was out of the ordinary.<p>

Everything was nice and ordinary.

And then she wasn't laughing anymore, just crying.  
>Sobs wracked her body as she felt her grip on the counter begin to loosen, and her body began to slide towards the floor.<br>Their entire conversation had been extremely normal, the kind of conversation a married couple might share before heading out to work.  
>Was she…getting used to this? After only two days?!<br>A tiny voice in the back of her mind scolded her, telling her that getting used to it was the best thing that could happen to her. When was it going to sink through her thick head? Natsu wasn't going to come rescue her this time, wasn't going to suddenly leap through the window with an idiotic grin and easily defeat her captor and managing to convert him to the good side while also managing to make Lucy fall further in love with him. And he most certainly wasn't going to sweep down and capture her lips with his and carry her exhausted body and mind back to her apartment, where they would both fall asleep on her bed. They also weren't going to wake up the next morning, make breakfast and head to the guild, where Zeref would apologize for all the trouble he caused and ask for Lucy's forgiveness, which she would readily give once seeing that Zeref had seen the error of his ways, and then join the guild and go on missions together with them.

Sometimes, there are people that you can save, people that actually hold a tiny whisper within their heart that begs for someone to find it, to find the true them, buried deep, deep down in the mass of pain and fear.

And sometimes there are people that you just _**can't**_ save.

That was when the panic sparked through her.

She had an overwhelming desire to run, as far and as fast as she could, leaving this oppressive manor behind her. Leave the person that wouldn't allow himself to be saved to rot alone here in this cage, while she flew freely through the sky.

So that's what she did.

She pushed herself up off the kitchen floor and ran blindly through the halls until she was outside in the garden again. Staggering down onto the cool ground, she gave a small gasp when her bare feet made contact with the dew on the cold morning ground while the suns rays warmed her body. She took a deep breath, enjoying the morning sweetness before bolting across the meadow and ripping through the flowers, feeling the wind caress her body. She ran for what must have been miles and miles, until her body collapsed from fatigue and she fell to her knees. Panting heavily, she cast a glance over her shoulder and felt her spirit begin to scream with joy when she realized she could no longer see the manor. Shaky laughter came out of her as she turned towards the landscape before her. Breathtaking mountains topped with snow and a cover of clouds, dotted with green trees that begged her to climb them and look out over the whole world. She wondered how the wind would feel on her face if she were that high above the ground. Excitement and desperation filled her as she pushed herself up and forced her feet shakily forward. She stretched out her hand to see if she could grasp the mountain in her hand and froze when her hand hit a solid wall that stood between her and freedom.

She dropped to her knees and stared at the barrier in front of her and cursed herself for thinking it would be this easy. Zeref wouldn't have left if she would be able to escape when he wasn't watching her. And even if she did escape, he would just hunt her down and bring her back. Except this time, he wouldn't be that lenient when it came to her begging for Natsu's life.  
>Wait, how long had he been gone?<br>She jumped and spun around, horror flooding her. She was so far; she couldn't even see the gigantic house. What if he came back and decided that the best idea to squash out her desire to escape was by killing Natsu and the rest of the guild?  
>How could she be so stupid?!<br>She had chosen to go with him, so that they would be safe. And now not even two days into their deal, she had gotten cold feet.  
>What the hell was wrong with her?!<br>Was she trying to get them all killed?!  
>She had to get back before he did.<br>But before she had the chance to run, she felt a hand grip her wrist painfully tight.

Damn.

He had found her.  
>"I-I-I was just…" She stammered before trailing off, struggling for the words that would magically convince him that there was no need to go and slaughter everything that she held dear.<br>So she didn't notice the peculiar heat that was coming from his hand until he spoke the words that she had been begging that she wouldn't hear.

"Luce."  
><em><strong>No.<strong>_  
>Damn crowded marketplaces.<br>_**Please.  
><strong>_Damn the person who came up with that stupid, stupid bond spell._**  
>Not again.<br>**_Warm arms encircled her as she caught a glance of pink hair in her peripheral vision. _**  
>Please.<br>**_"Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" His voice was filled to the brim with concern, pleading her to look him in the eyes. _**  
>Why?<strong>_  
>"You remember." She stated, avoiding his question and silently hoping against hope that she was wrong and his answer was no.<br>"Yeah." Her last shred of hope dissolved as his grip tightened on her and he buried his face in her golden curls. "And by the way, don't ever do that again." She didn't have to ask what he was talking about, she could guarantee that the image of the blood staining her dress was the thing on both of their minds.  
>"Didn't you hear?" She joked humorlessly. "They say history repeats itself."<br>"It won't." He told her, giving her a squeeze that did nothing to convince her.  
>"You have to leave." She told him, not even sure why she was telling him this when he wasn't going to listen. "He left to get milk, but he's coming back." Her voice cracked at the end from the strain of not throwing herself in his arms and entreating him to take her somewhere, anywhere but here. Not helped by the fact that the idea of the death mage going out to get milk was about to throw her into hysterical laughter.<br>He said nothing before spinning her around to meet his face, onyx eyes meeting brown ones as Lucy's hopes were completely destroyed.  
>"Natsu, please…just leave." Lucy begged him.<br>_The two can never beat each other; a fight between the two would just result in an endless cycle that could never be broken.  
><em>_**"I don't want you to be trapped in that cycle with me!"**_ Lucy screamed inside her head. **  
><strong>

Natsu shook his head and gestured behind him.  
>"Even if you managed to get me to leave, which is<em> not<em> going to happen, there's no way that you can convince all of these guys to go too."  
>Lucy turned and felt her jaw drop open as the entire guild stood before her, smug smiles covering everyone's faces.<br>"C'mon Lu-chan, don't just gape at us, that's rude." Levy admonished her silently before crossing over and giving Lucy a hug, Gajeel two steps behind her.  
>"You guys…" Lucy trailed off, tears flowing down her face.<br>"Awe, don't cry Lucy." Grey told her, an arm around Juvia's waist. "We've got to make sure we smile while we can, right?"  
>Lucy pushed Levy away and backed away from her family, images of all of them lying as cold and dead as Tetsu, Blythe, Yuki and Nerine had bombarding her mind.<br>"You don't understand! He-"  
>"Can be defeated." Erza's cool and collected voice rose among the crowd as she made her way to the front of the group and walked steadily over to Lucy. "It will be different this time."<p>

Lucy swallowed.  
>"So, you all know what happened last time and you still chose to run into this like the huge group of idiots that you are!" She yelled at them, backing further away from them and Erza, tears of frustration springing to her eyes.<br>"That's about it." Erza said quietly, before bringing Lucy into a bone-crushing hug against her armor. "You know we would do anything for you Lucy."  
>The Master stepped forward through the crowd and gazed at Lucy warmly. "You're an important member of our guild, our family, Lucy. How could we let you go without a fight?"<br>Lucy wriggled in her grasp, trying to free herself from Erza's killer grip.  
>"This isn't your battle! You weren't even there when it all started!"<br>Erza shook her head.  
>"Actually I've been around for millennium upon millennium, way before it all began."<p>

The guild gaped at her.

"Uh, Erza? Did you just say that you've been alive for millions of years?" Grey asked shakily.  
>"Yes." Erza called over her shoulder nonchalantly while carefully stroking Lucy's hair. When the guild members kept staring at her, she sighed and began to explain.<br>"My name is Scarlet Andromedae, I am a star removed from the sky for the sake of making sure the tragedy of one hundred years ago does not happen ever again." Erza said quietly before turning to give the shocked guild members the full force of her severity. "I was one of Lady Andromeda's knights, sworn to protect her in the heavens. The celestial king of spirits told me to come to Fiore and watch over Lucy Heartfilia to keep her safe."  
>"Why didn't you tell us?" Grey asked incredulously.<br>She shook her head remorsefully.  
>"Unfortunately, I lost all memory of my past life when I was born as a human. I only remembered when Levy came and found us at Polyusica-sama's house and informed us on the situation."<br>She released Lucy from the bone-crushing hug and placed her hands on her shoulders, making her look her in the eye. "I swear I will make sure that what happened all those years ago does not happen again. We are _all_ going home this time." She released her grip on Lucy's shoulder and turned towards the guild.  
>"Who's with me?"<p>

The deafening cheer from the guild caused a tiny spark of hope to flit through Lucy. These guys were really idiots, faced with certain death and finding out that the woman that made them all shake in their boots was a celestial spirit didn't faze them for long. Of course, to them, Erza would always be Erza and Lucy would always be Lucy. No matter if one was a star removed from the sky and the other a child of Love. Maybe with their idiotic strength, they stood a chance.  
>She realized of course, that she had fallen for the same lines like last time. But she knew she couldn't shake their strength and she knew that there was no way she could manage to get them to leave her there.<p>

She knew her guild. If they believed that someone was going to happen, well then it was damn well going to happen.

"Alright what's the plan?" Lucy asked them quietly, not willing to let the fear that she was barely containing break through.  
>"Well, we figured out that first Master would cast Fairy Law." Grey said the words slowly, as though he was avoiding what he would have to say next.<br>"And?" Lucy questioned, even though part of her already knew what he was going to say next.  
>"And then we figured we would just wing it!" Natsu proclaimed happily, sparks flying out of his mouth.<br>Lucy would have gaped at them had that not been the answer that she was expecting. As it was, she just shook her head and muttered something about them being complete idiots and how it was a wonder that they'd even made it this far, but anyone could see the smile that she was fighting to keep from crossing her face.

Sadly, fate had pre-determined that her smile would be short lived.

Cold hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled her back against the body they belonged to.  
>"Ai, you should really tell me when you're going to invite people over." The snake-like voice reprimanded her with softly, but it contained a rage that caused shivers to run down her spine. "That way, I can be here to greet them."<br>"Get your filthy hands off of her!" Natsu roared furiously. Zeref's eyes flicked over towards Natsu before muttering a word that Lucy couldn't quite catch. Natsu ran forward to grab Lucy back and smacked right into a barrier that separated Lucy and Zeref from the rest of them.  
>Lucy felt dread begin to seep through the chinks in her hope but it quickly died away when she noticed out of the corner of eyes that the guild members had hidden Master from view while pretending to gather their own magical powers. A good plan, but she knew that it wouldn't work. Zeref would sense the magic gathering around the Master and would destroy the group before Master could complete the spell.<br>Unless…

"Let go of me!" Lucy shrieked, tugging valiantly to try and free herself, hoping that the distraction she was providing would give them enough time to complete the spell.  
>His cold hands tightened around hers and she inwardly gave herself a high five.<br>"I can't do that Ai." He told her quietly, his voice low and angry.  
>With that one word the tables turned on her as she felt her mind wandering over the implications of the word.<br>Ai.  
>Was it supposed to be a short form of Aiko?<br>Did that mean that she was Aiko?  
>That she would always be Aiko?<br>Of course she would, Aiko and Lucy were the same person, the same soul.  
>But…<br>What if Aiko consumed her? Took away all her memories and filled her mind up with her own?  
>Where would Lucy go?<br>Would she disappear?  
>Or would she end up just like the memory of her and Natsu's first meeting, bits and pieces missing from both of them, making her not Lucy, but not Aiko either?<br>She was pissed, and confused and part of her was wondering why she was freaking out because she was just one person, not two.  
>Aiko and Lucy were the same.<br>But they weren't.

_**"This is incredibly annoying." **_The tiny voice from earlier resonated from within the deeps of her mind. _**"Why does the life that you led a hundred years ago have to affect who you are today?  
><strong>__"Because the things that happened one hundred years ago and the life that I led one hundred years ago contain the reasons why all this is happening now?" _She shot back angrily._ "And I need to know who I am! I need to know what memories count, and which don't, which have meaning and which don't. Because suddenly, our first kiss happened one hundred years ago and our first meeting was one hundred years ago. Suddenly, they're not mine anymore, they're Aiko's." _She finished, defeated. _  
>"And if that's so, do I matter? Or is it all Aiko? Is my life nothing but an insignificant interlude in this big play? <em>_**  
>"That depends."<br>**__"On what?"  
><em>_**"Whom "I" and "my" refers to."  
><strong>_She felt something akin to relief spread throughout her._  
>"Lucy."<br>_

Lucy clenched her fists and kicked Zeref in the shin.  
>"My name isn't and won't ever be Ai! It's Lucy!" She snapped at him, tugging even harder against him and raising her leg to kick him again. "I'm LUCY!" She screamed, more for her benefit then anyone else's, triumph cascading through her.<br>And then he kicked the back of her knees; causing her to cry out in pain and making her legs and triumph buckle beneath her.  
>"Shut up." He said, his voice shaking slightly. Lucy realized that she had hit a nerve and gathered up the strength to pursue the conversation. The more distracted Zeref was, the better chance they had to cast the spell.<br>"My name is Lucy, not Ai!"  
>"I said shut up!" Zeref yelled, shaking her roughly, desperation rolling off him in waves.<br>"And who told me you could give me a pet name? Who gave you permission to cut my _old _name short and use it whenever the hell you felt like? 'Cause it sure as hell wasn't me." Lucy snarled at him viscously, the triumph beginning to flood back into her.  
>There was silence for a moment and she resisted the urge to fist pump in victory before flicking her eyes carefully over to where the others were standing. She saw Master's lips counting down.<p>

_Ten.  
><em>"You thought Ai, was a pet name?" Zeref asked, his voice dangerously low, the mere tone sending shivers reverberating down her spine, shaking away any delusions of triumph that she had briefly possessed.  
><em>Nine.<em>  
>Her mouth felt dry, and she was having trouble stringing enough words together in her mind to form one clear thought. Finally she managed to shove something out.<br>"It…isn't?"  
><em>Eight.<em>  
>Zeref threw his head back and laughed, huge spasms of maniacal laughter wracking his body and the air around them, the vibrations running throughout her body and passing through hers from the places that they touched.<br>_Seven._  
>Fear was trickling it's way through her blood stream the way that a blood infusion did, slowly filling her body with a paralyzing sensation that left her struggling to retain the ability to hold her sanity in place.<br>_Six._  
>"I think there are some things that I seriously need to inform you of my Ai." He told her sweetly, flipping her around to face him, his face enough to momentarily stop Lucy's beating heart and the flow of blood in her veins.<br>_Five._  
>"Unfortunately, it looks as though I don't think you're friends are going to give me a chance to let you know the normal way." He didn't sound very displeased though, if anything, he sounded scarily excited.<br>_Three._  
>Paralyzed by fear, she didn't even move when he pressed his lips against hers and pushed open her mouth, breathing into her the words that made her freeze in horror at the implications.<br>_Two._  
>"Soul Steal." Zeref murmured against her lips as the light of Fairy Law descended on the two of them. The blinding light was nothing however, compared to the tearing sensation Lucy felt from deep within her, as something broke away and made it's way through her body and into Zeref's eager mouth, pulling away her consciousness with it and making her eyes fall closed. <em><br>One.  
><em>The last thing that filtered through her mind was the sound of Zeref hissing in pain, before everything fell away into whiteness.

_"Lucy."  
>A voice, quiet and melodic, arose Lucy from her suspended state, allowing her eyes to flicker open and take in her surroundings. She was in the middle of a black pit, with no light to be seen coming from above or below her. With everything around her being black, she was unable to distinguish between the floor and the air above, giving her the feeling that she was suspended in mid-air.<br>"Lucy."  
>She spun around to face the voice and found her eyes resting upon the form of her mother, looking exactly like she remembered her.<br>"Mama!" Lucy cried out, feeling exactly like her seven year old self again. She ran towards her, arms outstretched to enclose her mother in a warm embrace, but when she reached her, her body simple flew right through hers. Losing her footing and stumbling slightly, she took a moment to regain herself before spinning back to face her mother.  
><em>

_The woman looked at her sadly, her brown eyes echoing the pain that Lucy felt.  
>"Lucy, I've missed you." The woman chocked out, her voice hitching in her throat.<br>Lucy felt tears rising to her eyes, here was the one person that she had wished for more than anything and she couldn't even reach out her arms and feel her warm arms around her. She couldn't feel her soft hands stroke her blonde hair and spin her around in a circle whenever she felt sad. She closed her eyes and swallowed down the lump in her throat, allowing the tears to run freely down her face.  
>"I've missed you too Mama." Lucy told her through the tears.<br>_

_The woman bristled at the word "Mama" and turned away from Lucy, her long hair casting shadows that hid her eyes from Lucy's view. Lucy felt her heart clench painfully and she took a desperate step towards the woman that had been her whole world.  
>"Mama?" Lucy whispered, fear of the possible answers flooding through her voice.<br>The woman appeared to take a few breaths before turning back to Lucy, her eyes holding a fatigue that seemed bottomless.  
>"There's something that you need to know, Lucy." Her mother told her gravely. "Although, deep down, you probably already know what it is."<br>Lucy noticed that it had become impossible to breathe, or maybe she had just forgotten how to.  
>"No." It was a whisper, like the ones that hissed through her head at that very moment. Pointing out the obvious and stringing it up in a huge array of colorful lights that Lucy couldn't miss.<em>_  
><em>

_**Images of dark woods flooded Lucy's mind, a sense of urgency and danger overflowing from them.  
><strong>__**"What happened to my mother?"  
><strong>__**My precious…precious…baby**_  
><em><strong>The woods were flashing by, the trees nothing but a green blur.<br>**__**"She died a long time ago."**__**  
>Lucy could hear a heavy breathing and a baby's cries.<br>**__**"How?"**__**  
>And only a short distance behind them, the howl of wolves.<br>**__**"She was attacked by wolves."**__**  
>Green eyes were staring intently into hers<br>Green eyes.  
>Not Brown.<br>**_

_Lucy was shaking, her entire form racked by the spasms that ran through her.  
>"You're Ankoku-sama aren't you?" She shoved the bitter words out of her throat.<br>Lucy's mother closed her eyes and nodded.  
>Deafening silence filled the room for a few minutes, before Lucy straightened her self up, and raised her eyes towards Ankoku-sama.<br>_

_"I don't care."  
><em>

_Ankoku-sama's eyes flew open in and she gaped at Lucy in shock.  
>The girl was still visibly shaken up by what she had heard, but she held her mother's gaze, the flint of determination in her eyes unmistakable.<br>"You know," She said, making her voice sound casual, as though they were simply discussing the weather. "Recently I found myself caught between a rock and a hard place. I didn't know whether or not the life I should try and live out had to be Aiko's, or if I could continue being Lucy." She smiled sadly. "I wasn't even sure, if Lucy had the right to exist anymore. I mean, this soul, these memories, Natsu, they all belonged to Aiko a century before Lucy even took her first breath." She had to pause for a moment to steady herself. "I thought, was my life nothing but the half time show before I recovered my memories and Aiko came back? Does nothing that happened to me have anything meaning? Are all these people, all these memories, all these feelings, nothing more than a half time act in this stupid 100 year old drama?"  
>"But then I realized that I had a choice. I mean, everyone has a choice, people make choices all the time and, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem, these choices affect the future. Not always in a big way, but nonetheless it is changed."<br>She took a deep breath and steadied herself before continuing.  
>"And my choice is to live my life the way that I want to live it. And that means to live my life as Lucy. I don't want to pick up the life I left off 100 years ago, I'd much rather continue the one that I know and love."<br>She crossed over to her mother swiftly.  
>"Which means, that to me, you aren't Ankoku-sama, but my one and only Mama."<br>_

_Ankoku-sama's eyes filled with tears and she closed her eyes, letting them fall softly down her face.  
>"Lucy, I-I-"<br>"I love you, Mama." Lucy told her, feeling her own tears fall and join her mother's in the darkness.  
>"I love you too, Lucy." Layla sobbed, unable to form the words so she could explain to her daughter the doubt that had plagued her since her daughter's birth, when she had realized who Lucy was.<br>They stayed like that for a moment, both of them standing so close to each other while tears fell down their faces, but unable to offer even the slightest comfort.  
>Finally, Layla wiped the tears from her eyes and Lucy hurried to do the same.<br>"Do you have to go now?" Lucy asked fearfully, sadness tearing through her heart again.  
>Layla hesitated before nodding slightly.<br>"Soon. But before I go, there is something that I have to tell you."  
>"What is it?" Lucy asked cautiously, mentally steeling herself for the worst.<br>Her mother hesitated for a moment, the way a parent does as they consider at the moment when they decide whether it's better to protect their child from the harsh cold reality that encompasses them, or to reveal to them the cracks in life's seemingly flawless surface. But the importance of the latter allowed her to resume breathing and continue her story  
>"When Zeref told you the story of the one magic and how it came into being, he left out a few key points."<br>Lucy felt her blood run cold.  
>"What key points?" She whispered, her voice weaker than the gentlest breeze.<br>"I think it'd be best if I told you the whole story, from where it truly begins." Layla told her before waiting for Lucy's answering nod to begin.  
><em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>A dark figure roams across a grassy field in the dead of night, his hooded cloak making the surrounding darkness seem a pale shade of grey. In his hands that remain hidden beneath the folds of his enormous robe, he holds a scythe with an ebony handle, ivory fastenings and a steel blade. He walks slowly, as though he is weighed down, by such things hold too much gravity for the human eye, much less the human mind, to perceive. He raises his hooded head to the sky, and watches the cold light of the stars and moon shine back at him, offering him only the coldest of comforts. But he doesn't want cold comforts such as these, what he wants, or rather what he thirsts for, is warm arms to embrace him and for a loving, beating heart to call his own.<strong>_

_**But, for some reason, there wasn't a very long line of people waiting to jump into Death's waiting arms.  
>And those that did were lost, their minds so far warped with grief, and sadness that they accepted his arms with relish, going out of their way to throw themselves at him.<br>Then again, there were those that greeted him like an old friend, raising their wrinkled faces to meet his and smile, almost as if they knew that he was lonely, that he craved the love that their loved ones held for them. But then they would leave too, cross over the dim bridge that he led them to and disappear in a blink of light, almost as if they were becoming stars, and he would be left alone again.  
>Death sighed and stopped for a moment, turning his head away from the stars and instead just choosing to simply exist.<br>Not that he had much of a choice in the matter.  
><strong>_

_**"Hello."  
><strong>_

_**Death turned to face the voice and found a woman standing before him. She had long blonde hair that fell a little bit past her shoulders and creamy white skin. A dress that had seemed white at first, but upon closer inspection was revealed to have tiny crimson red designs that were almost undetectable, adorned her beautiful body. However, the thing that intrigued him the most about her was her face, beautiful, delicate, heart shaped face with red lips.  
>But that was not what caught Death's attention.<br>It was the white piece of fabric that covered her eyes, cutting off her sight and hiding her eyes from view.  
>This disconcerted Death a little bit, after all, the eyes are doorways to the soul and unless you have a near perfect poker face, your eyes will always be your downfall when you try to deceive someone.<br>Not being able to see what this person was thinking, or whether her smile really did reach her eyes, was very…strange? He wasn't sure.  
>As his eyes traveled down her face, he realized that her cheeks were glistening with freshly shed tears and he felt confusion ripple through him. He had been standing with the whole time, and she hadn't dropped her beautiful smile or started sniffling and sobbing. But from the looks of her tears, she couldn't have shed them until only a few seconds before.<br>**_

_**"Why," He felt his voice echo in the still night air, "Why are you crying?"  
>The woman laughed.<br>"Oh, don't worry about that, I'm always crying." She waved her hand offhandedly and smiled even more angelically at him. "And you know, when someone says hello, you're supposed to say hello back and then ask your questions." She tsked good naturedly and waggled her finger at him.  
>"Why, though?" Death persisted, he hated when the answer eluded him.<br>The woman's smile turned a little bit bitter and she sighed slightly.  
>"I suppose it's because someone, somewhere, is always crying over me." She told him, the tear making it's way down to her chin and falling to the grassy field below.<br>"Why would they be crying over you?" Death asked, still unclear on just what it was that was going on here, as far as he knew, he was the only one that anybody cried over.  
>"You ask quite a lot of questions, don't you Death?" The woman stated softly, her voice holding a hint of amusement.<br>**_

_**"How do you-?"  
>"I'm Love by the way," She told him, stretching out her hand to meet his. "Nice to meet you."<br>Death looked at the outstretched hand in disbelief, Love herself was stretching out her hand to Death? The creator of the warmth that he desired was offering out her hand to **_**him**_**?  
>Before he could stop himself, he wrapped his cold, pale hand around hers and gripped it tightly, enjoying the warmth that it held.<br>"Nice to meet you too." He told her, closing his eyes and letting himself enjoy the warmth. For the first time in as long as he had existed, he felt truly at peace.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>Death!" Love called out, running effortlessly across the long field to where the cloaked figure sat, watching the wind bend the grass in the mid-afternoon sun.<strong>_

_**"Yes?" Death answered softly, watching as Love dropped down beside him in the field. He had spent the last four thousand years traveling with Love as they went through the mundane task of existing. Only, with Love, it wasn't mundane at all. They had had many exciting adventures, journeying to the far reaches of the world and marveling in all of its wonders. And slowly, but surely, he had felt an unbreakable bond form between the two of them, to the point where he couldn't remember how he had existed without her. This bond was felt stronger on his side than hers, made evident by the fact that she was currently married.  
><strong>_

_**Twenty years ago, they had arrived at the border of a small town that sat at the bottom of a mountain alongside a large river. While making their way through the town unnoticed, seeing as humans could never see Death until it was their time and Love's mystery made her invisible, they were suddenly stopped when a man grabbed the back of Love's dress.  
>She spun around quickly and freed herself from the man's grasp.<br>"H-how can you see me?" Love demanded, her voice shaking slightly from the scare that she had just received. Death stepped forward and blocked her partially from view, his eyes glowing a strange eerie blue color from the depths of his hood.  
>The man too a step back, his face paling at the sight of Death.<br>"I-I've been able to see spirits and demons ever since I was little." He stuttered out, regretting it almost immediately.  
><strong>_

_**"Demons?" Death hissed in anger, his blazing blue orbs flaring up even more. "How dare you call us that, you little-"  
>"Death! Calm down, he didn't mean it like that." Love pleaded, stepping in front of Death and placing her hands on his shoulders.<br>As per usual, his anger flattened out in an instant from the warmth that her hands contained and he visibly relaxed before allowing the blue glow to fade out of existence.  
>"Sorry." Death whispered softly and Love smiled kindly.<br>"It's alright, let's just head to the next town."  
>Death nodded and they turned back to continue walking when the man's voice stopped them.<br>**_

_**"Wait!"  
>The two turned back to face the man, who blushed slightly and darted his eyes away.<br>"Yes?" Love asked gently, with the patience of a Saint.  
>The man kicked up some dust as Death felt a strange feeling of foreboding and dread wash over him.<br>"I was wondering, if you would like to stop at my place and have some dinner with me?" He blurted out, his face turning as red as a tomato.  
>Love was stunned, her mouth hung open as a rosy blush rose to her pale cheeks.<br>"We don't really need to eat." She told him regretfully.  
>"Then just come to my place and talk?" He asked her hopefully.<br>**__**Death felt his hands tighten on his scythe as irritation ripped through him.  
><strong>__**Love hesitated for a moment before turning to Death questioningly. When Death only shrugged, she took it as a "go ahead" and nodded at the man.  
><strong>__**"We would love to." She told him, a little too earnestly for Death's liking.**_

_**The man burst into a wide grin and Death couldn't help thinking that they were making a huge mistake.  
>And they had been.<br>It turned out that the village was descended from a fairy race (fairies, elves and dragons held a specialized version of magical power, but unless their decedents were of full fairy, dragon, or elf blood, the only thing that passed down through the blood-line was their ability to pierce the thin veil between this world and the next.) that had broken off from their siblings and chosen to live amongst humans. As a result, about half of the people in the village could see, and touch, spirits, demons and the forces of the universe (which included Death and Love). It was very strange, going around for the better part of 14 billion years unnoticed and then suddenly having people nod or wave hello to you.  
>It almost made you feel…<br>like you were **_**human.**_**  
><strong>_

_**The man that they had met the first day was called Than and had courted Love for two years until she completely lost her heart to him and agreed to marry him, with Death's consent of course. After all, he had been her best friend for four thousand years, and she couldn't rest easily knowing that he wasn't happy with her decision.  
>Once Death had given it, swallowing down the painful lump of regret and jealousy that had arisen in his throat, the two had gotten married and moved into Than's house, a quaint cottage distanced quite a ways away from the village at the very foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, Death had distracted himself from the roaring beast that longed to tear Than into millions of tiny pieces by getting together with a girl from the village named Celeste. She had given birth to a boy, who they named Axel.<br>Love had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, named Lilia and Kana and all had seemed wonderful until the year the children turned five.  
><strong>_

_**Death had been sitting in this very field, when he had seen Love make her way to a small run off from the river. Curious, he had followed her and found her huddled in a ball, tears streaming from beneath the blindfold like mini waterfalls. When he put a hand on her shoulder to ask her what was wrong, she shot up so fast that she almost fell into the stream. Luckily, he managed to catch her and pull her up before she could land in it.  
>But when he did, he found that the normally pale, smooth face was covered in bruises and that her normally perfect red lips were swollen with a cut running down the middle of them.<br>Turns out Than wasn't who everyone thought he was. According to Love, he had a terrible temper and didn't think anything of taking it all out on his innocent, caring wife.  
><strong>_

_**Death had felt an intense anger run throughout his being and had picked up his scythe before beginning to make his way towards Than's house, intending to give the horrible man what he believed had coming to him, when Love had wrapped her arms around him and begged him desperately not to do anything about it. Her children, she pleaded, deserved to grow up in a stable environment, and he was always sure to hide his true self whenever they were around the children. Death had wanted to remove her arms and continue his death march to the evil man's front door, but the warmth of Love's arms clouded him mind and he felt he body relax as he heard his voice force an "ok" out of his barely moving lips.  
><strong>_

_**And so, he had let her go, back to that house, where the only thing waiting for her was misery and heartbreak.  
>It was one of the worst mistakes of his existence.<br>Thirteen years had gone by, and both her children and his had grown up and gotten married with children of their own. Death had guided Celeste over the bridge and watched her soul twinkle like a star before flying away like all the others. And once again, he was alone, forced to watch while Love kept making excuses for the worthless scum that didn't deserve to even look at her, much less be married to her.  
>It was that thought that had brought him up to the field, where he had attempted to relax in the warm sunlight and banish all thoughts of disposing of Than in the most imaginative ways possible. It hadn't been working very well when Love had interrupted him.<br>She was in a bit of a state; her blonde hair was flying in all directions and her dress was more rumpled and creased than it usually was. A fading bruise covered the left side of her face and Death felt his anger flare up at the sight of it. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he tried to pay attention to what she was telling him.  
><strong>_

_**"Than was talking to some villagers in the neighboring town, and they were telling him that a huge group of bandits had been spotted in the area, almost four hundred strong." Lines of worry appeared on her forehead as Death let the reality of was she was telling him sink in.  
>"That's four times the size of the village." He stated, fear gripping his heart at the thought of his son, Axel, and his family<br>"They were saying that judging by the size and speed of them, we have about a day or two until they arrive here. Even if we evacuate, we don't have enough time to put enough distance between us and them." Love finished.  
>Death stared at her in shock, although you couldn't see his expression beneath the folds of his hood.<br>"You mean, everyone, is going to die?" Death asked her hoarsely.  
><strong>_

_**Love shook her head sharply stood up.  
>"Not if I can help it." She stated fiercely, her very being defiant and strong.<br>"What are you planning?" Death asked, hope spreading its wings throughout him.  
>She hesitated for a moment and dread promptly drove a wooden stake through Death's brief hope.<br>"We can't use our magic on humans that haven't fallen victim to us," Love stated calmly, "but that doesn't mean we can't create something magical and give it to the humans." She looked down the hill towards the village, where children's laughter had begun to float up towards them on the breeze. "If we were to combine our powers to create something that would give the half of the village that can see us magical abilities, then they alone would have the power to stand up and protect the village from the bandits."  
><strong>_

_**"You're plan misses one key point," Death informed her with an air of forced serenity, "The force required to create an object that half of the village's power originates from could drain our powers so much that we might lose our physical manifestations forever." His eyes carefully watched Love's reaction to his next words. "We would just be a force that existed in this world because its presence was needed, regardless of whether or not it is wanted. The two of us would never be able to meet again and these emotions, these feelings that we hold for-(he stopped himself from saying each other)-people, for our children, they would just disappear into nothing, because the being that had carried them would no longer truly exist."  
><strong>_

_**Love said nothing for a moment and simply continued to listen to the laughter and babble of the children on the wind.  
>"Better that then have them die with me unable to do anything except hold them in my arms while I listen to them take their last breaths." She whispered quietly, as Death felt much more powerful than mere human dread pooling in the bottom of his stomach.<br>**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>"Love!" Death cried out, his hands reaching out and catching Love's translucent ones. As her legs gave way beneath her Death caught her and sank to the ground, clutching her body close to his.<strong>_  
><em><strong>The half of the village that could see them lay strewn around the two of them, the effort that it had taken them to absorb the power from the 'one magic', as they had termed it, draining them of the last vestiges of their energy and causing them to faint.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Love raised her head to look at him with great effort, a sad smile playing along her lips.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Sorry, it looks like I'm not really cut out for this kind of stuff, huh Death?" She tried to laugh but it came out too weak, a cracked and broken version of her regular one.<strong>_

_**Death felt his vision blur as trickles of water leaked down his face and fell onto Love's.**_  
><em><strong>She raised her fading fingers to touch the spot where it had fallen before reaching up to caress Death's face.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Don't cry for me Death, I don't want your last memory of me to be sad."<strong>_  
><em><strong>Death raised his hand and clutched Love's hand tighter to his face, trying to get some warmth back into it. When he couldn't, the tears fell harder, and mingled in with Love's. "I don't want you to leave me! I don't want to be all by myself again!"<strong>_  
><em><strong>"You won't be alone, you'll have Axel and the kids with you." Love reminded him gently.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"And what about when they have to leave as well?" Death spat harshly. "What about when I have to walk each of them to that damn bridge and watch as they leave me behind?" He couldn't seem to make the tears stop. "Why do I have to be the one that gets left behind?"<strong>_  
><em><strong>There was silence for a moment before Love shook her head.<strong>_

_**"I don't know Death."**_

_**Death clutched Love tighter to him as her body became more and more translucent.**_  
><em><strong>"Before I disappear," Love said quietly, "I would love to see the world with my own eyes. Do you think that, seeing as I'm disappearing, whoever created us will give me a break and I'll be able to take the blindfold off?"<strong>_  
><em><strong>They had tried many times to take off her blindfold, but every time they had taken it off and had started to open her eyes, the blindfold had ended up right back where it had always been. Love said it was probably alike the crying in a way that it pertained to her victims as well. When they were afflicted with her, she said they were prone to being totally blind to certain undesirable traits that the other party in the relationship possessed.<strong>_

_**To make a long story short,**_

_**Love is blind.**_

_**But seeing as she was about to disappear, Death was sure there had to be some mercy lingering in the heart of their creator.**_  
><em><strong>Death grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"I'll take that as a yes." Love whispered and removed her hand from his grasp. Reaching up, she untied the bow and let the blindfold fall down her face before landing on her neck. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she opened her eyes and gazed right into Death's face.<strong>_  
><em><strong>She waited for a moment to make sure that the blindfold was going to appear back on her face before smiling and reaching for his hand again.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Wow, you're a pretty handsome devil, you know?" Love told him, his eyes sparkling with laughter.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Death simply gazed into her perfect eyes, lost in a wave of affection.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"I take it from your silence that my eyes are as good looking as the rest of me then." Love teased him lightly. "Either that or they're shockingly unattractive."<strong>_  
><em><strong>"No! Their perfect! You're perfect!" He exclaimed, gripping her hand tightly and making her laugh, still far too weak and broken for his liking.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Thank-you Death." She told him.<strong>_

_**"For what?" He asked.**_  
><em><strong>She smiled.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"For being the most important person in my existence for four thousand and twenty years."<strong>_  
><em><strong>She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek before bursting into millions of tiny shards of light.<strong>_

_**He sat there, lost for a moment at the sudden disappearance of her weight from his arms, before punching the ground below.**_  
><em><strong>"No!" He hollered, throwing his head back and screaming in agony into the night air.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"No need to shout!"<strong>_  
><em><strong>He promptly cut off his scream and glared lethally at the direction that the voice had come from.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Than stood there, yawning and stretching, completely oblivious to the shattered state that Death was in. He glanced around for a moment before turning back to Death was a confused look on his face.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Where's my wife?"<strong>_

_**Death felt anger like he had never known before course through him. How dare this thing, this waste of precious life, decide that it would be alright for him to address Love like she was nothing more than one of his possessions? How dare he even ask after her, when it was due to his news that she was no longer with him? It was because of him that he would no longer get to see her smile, hear her laughter and feel her warmth on his skin.**_  
><em><strong>"She couldn't handle the strain from creating the one magic and as a result her physical manifestation was destroyed."<strong>_  
><em><strong>Than gaped at in shock, unable to string the words together.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"Y-y-you mean, she's dead?"<strong>_  
><em><strong>Death glared at him, his knuckles turning white from gripping his scythe.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"We do not die. We are forces of life. She just lost her physical manifestation and consciousness."<strong>_  
><em><strong>He turned away from Than with great effort, resisting the urge to drag him to his premature grave.<strong>_  
><em><strong>"In other words, the <strong>__**person we knew no longer exists, only the force that she embodied." Death paused for a moment, struggling to swallow back the choked sob that threatened to cascade through him. "So I would suggest that you do your utmost to honor her sacrifice by protecting the village tomorrow."**_

_**Than winced and looked away, refusing to meet Death's eyes.  
><strong>_

_**Death felt an iron grip wrap around the delicate heart that normally would've been protected by a stone encasing.  
>But Love had changed that.<br>Love had changed everything.  
>"What is it?" He growled harshly at Than, a gnawing feeling of apprehension beginning to dawn on him.<br>The man looked away from Death and murmured something so low that he probably thought Death couldn't hear it.  
><strong>_

_**But he did.  
><strong>_

_**"What did you say?" He whispered, his voice strained from the emotion that was threatening to suffocate him. He already knew the answer, but it didn't stop him from hoping blindly for a different one.  
><strong>_

_**"There is no army."  
><strong>_

_**A moment of silence came between them as he gaped at the words.  
>It was swiftly broken as Than started trying to make excuses for himself.<br>"I just wanted to become stronger! Do you know embarrassing it is to have a wife who's stronger than you? It's humiliating! I figured that she wouldn't mind if I got just a little bit of her power, but she refused. She told me that you weren't allowed to interfere directly with human life with your magical abilities.  
>I didn't know that it would kill her-or make her disappear or whatever!"<br>**_

_**Another moment as he turned the words over in his mind.  
><strong>_

_**"I thought she just didn't want to give me some of her power, and I figured that if I told here that the village was in danger than she would give me some power because she loved it so much."  
><strong>_

_**One more as they finally clicked into place.  
><strong>_

_**"I didn't know that it would kill her-"  
><strong>_

_**And then-  
><strong>_

_**"-or make her disappear or whatever!"  
><strong>_

_**"Whatever?!" Death howled furiously and charged at Than, pining him up against the wall. Than cried out in pain but it only served to fuel Death's anger, this weak human didn't know the meaning of pain.  
>"Your wife has just given up her earthly body and consciousness to protect this village from an attack that isn't coming. She gave you powers because she thought that it would help you protect the children of the village, not so that you could fulfill your own selfish, greedy, jealous desires!" Death snarled viciously.<br>**_

_**"It's her fault! She didn't have to go overboard and give the entire half of the village power! If she had just given it to me, than she probably would've survived!" Than snapped back at Death.  
>Death tightened his grip on Than, causing him to cry out painfully.<br>"Don't you dare talk about her that way, you pitiful waste of precious life. She was the purest thing in this whole fucking world and you tainted her and tore her away from me! She was my everything, and now she's gone and I'm never going to see her again back because of the damned spell that you forced our hand in!"  
><strong>_

_**"Hey buddy calm down," Than said soothingly. "Don't get so upset that the love of your life never returned your feelings and disappeared after spending the last twenty years with **_**me." _He smirked. "Not you, me. Tell me, how does it feel to have a four thousand year old unrequited love?"_**_**  
>Death gave a roar of anger and flung Than against the opposite wall, relishing in the sickening crack that resounded through the air as his head made contact with it. He wanted to hurt him more and more until he was satisfied that he had gone through the same pain that Love had. Unfortunately, it looked like the blow to his head had managed to knock Than out. Hatred and the need for revenge pulsed through Death's being and he knew that he couldn't restrain himself enough to wait until he woke up to torture him a bit more.<br>**_

_**He would just have to end it, right now.  
><strong>_

_**He stalked over to where Than lay and raised his scythe above his head, aiming for the normally blue thread that had been tainted black by greed. His connection with life had already corroded, what did it matter if Death's scythe cut through that line a little bit before he was supposed to?  
>He brought his hand down to cut the line and found that his scythe didn't move with it. <strong>_

_**Glaring at his scythe as it hung suspended in the air beside him, he made another grab at it, only to have his fingers slip through the hilt.  
>He stared at it and his fingers as he felt a hysterical laugh bubble through him and escape into the room.<br>Love slipped away through his fingers and he couldn't kill the person responsible because he wasn't allowed to break the rules the universe had set for him. And Than had thought that he and Love were powerful. They were just servants to the higher powers that had created them, bound to follow the rules set for them and aimlessly complete their never ending duties for all eternity.  
>What was the point of existing for eternity if, at the end of the day, you always ended up alone?<br>**_

_**Fine.  
><strong>_

_**If that was the way that the universe wanted to play it.  
><strong>_

_**"Dad?"  
>Death turned around to see his son Axel slowly coming to. Groaning, his son slowly pushed himself off the ground to see Than's slumped body and Death's scythe hovering in mid-air. Blinking to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, Axel looked at Death worriedly.<br>"Dad, what happened? What's wrong with Than? And, where's Love?"  
>Death just looked at him, his body full of a pleasant hazy feeling.<br>"Where indeed." He muttered softly before crossing over to Axel and crouching down beside him, studying his features all the while.  
>"Dad?"<br>Raising his fingers to touch Axel's face, he put his last vestige of energy into the spell and watched with satisfaction as the area around his fingers glowed blue as his presence was absorbed into his son.  
>"Dad, what are you doing?"<br>**_

_**Death ignored him as his life-force began to disappear from the effort of the spell. He would transport his conscious and being into Axel, who would pass on his essence to his children and so it would continue.  
>Until that day that he and Love met again.<br>Once he was sure that everything had passed through into Axel, he withdrew his fingers and let himself fall towards the cobbled ground.  
>"Dad!" Axel cried and reached forward to catch him before he could hit the stone floor. "Dad, what's going on?"<br>Death's eyes stared unseeingly into the distance as the blue fire that lit them began to flicker out of existence.  
>"I'll find you Love. Whether it takes a thousand years, or a billion, I will find you. And then, nobody will tear us apart every again.<br>**_

_**And with that, the fire was smothered as his body burst into millions of tiny shards of darkness.**_

* * *

><p>With the whole Erza is a star thing,I know it's probably really strange, but I thought it would be interesting, plus<br>I needed some way for her to come into the story, being on of Lucy's close friends, I know that she would have to factor  
>into the past life somewhere.<br>The thing is, Scarlet Andromedae is based a star in the Andromeda galaxy that died so she is based on a star that actually existed :D  
>I dont know if I've already apologized for this but, I'm sorry for the Lisanna bashing that occured a chapter or so before hand.<br>I personally don't have anything against Lisanna, in fact, I'm of the opinion that she ships Nalu ;)  
>I'm also sorry for this lame excuse of a chapter T_T, however, I hope you enjoyed it.<br>Buh Bye for now, with **me still not owning anything**:D


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello Everybody!  
><strong>*ducks as various sharp and pointy objects are flung at her at great velocities*  
><strong>wahh! I'm sorrry!<strong> *bows down* **I know, it's been forever since I updated, you have the right to hate me forever and ever and ever. But this is the last chapter, so yay! My first complete story ever, HUZZAH! Now I have to move on to that plot bunny that I accepted almost a year ago now ***sweat drops* **  
>Anywho, please enjoy this final chapter.<br>Warnings: mentions of domestic abuse, thoughts about suicide. Not a very happy chapter for the most part I must say. But I hope you like this.**

* * *

><p><em><strong><strong>_"Lucy! Lucy!"  
>"Natsu, stop hollering. She obviously can't hear you."<br>Natsu paused in his act of pounding on the barrier to glare at Grey.  
>"Shut up, you ice freak!" He snarled before giving the barrier another punch.<br>Grey sighed exasperatedly and turned to Levy and Fried. "Any luck?"  
>The two turned from where they were examining the barrier and shook their heads.<p>

"I've never seen a barrier like it." Levy twisted her hands anxiously, frowning.  
>"And it's not made up of any runes that I know of." Fried told them before turning back to glare at the billions of tiny golden characters that made up the barrier as if they were going out of their way to show him up. "The characters appear to be some sort of ancient writing system."<br>Grey frowned. "Even if it's ancient magic, it should have disappeared when he passed out right?"  
>Fried shook his head.<p>

"Normally, it would have, but we don't know the nature of the spell that he cast. It could be linked directly to his life force and not his consciousness. That way, he would have to die before the effects of his magic dissipate. And seeing as we're dealing with the famous "Death Mage" here, I think that's most likely the case."  
>"So how the hell are we supposed to get to Lucy?!" Natsu hissed.<br>Everyone's gaze drifted to the two figures lying next to each other in the circle, the slow rise and fall of their chests the only movement from either of them. The silence that drowned the group screamed the answer to Natsu's question louder than anyone else could have._**  
><strong>_

* * *

><p><em>Hate, she mused, was rather like a wildfire; destroying everyone and everything in it's path in order to eliminate the object of the hate. It was an ugly emotion that could only be destroyed by love and understanding. But even then traces of the hate could still remain, like wisps of black smoke that could easily choke the pity and tolerance out of someone if inhaled too much.<br>She wanted to say that the hate she held for Zeref had been completely erased by the pity that encompassed her after hearing the story. But that was not the case. While she couldn't find it in her to hate him as she had before, the pity that she felt for him could not completely overshadow the anger and sorrow that she and those around her had been subject to.  
>But then he had once been the target of such emotions, which is what had led them to the situation they were in now.<br>Still, two wrongs don't make a right. Everyone holds feelings of sorrow and anger in their heart; but working through the pain that these feelings give and moving forward is what keeps us sane and human. Those that remain stuck in the past are trapped in an endless cycle of pain and fear.  
><em>

_**"An endless cycle that could never be broken."  
><strong>_

_**Ah.**__  
><em>

_She had the answer now.  
><em>

_"There you are."  
>She whipped around to see Zeref standing across from her, a smug smile covering his features.<br>"You took a while to find you know? It was almost as if something was blocking me from your presence."  
>Lucy smiled despite herself. "Mama."<br>Something flickered on Zeref's face for a moment before it was quickly smothered down by and replaced with a look of perfect composure. Lucy felt sorry for anyone who had ever tried to beat him at poker, though she had no doubt that she could've._

"_Do you remember when we first met Neil?" She asked him quietly.  
>Another flicker. "My name is Zeref." He told her coldly.<br>"I'm not talking to you," she replied, "I'm talking to my friend Neil, who I know is still in there somewhere. So if you would kindly shut up so I could continue speaking to him, that would be much appreciated."  
>Zeref snorted and crossed his arms.<em>

_She continued on as though she hadn't seen.  
>"I was seven, and had decided that meant I was allowed to go adventuring around the estate on my own." Her mouth twitched slightly at the memory. "So I snuck out of the house and went for a walk around the estate, and about two minutes in, I heard some whimpering coming from behind mama's garden. I walked over and sure enough," She paused and smiled at him, "there you were."<br>"Are you going to ramble on much longer?" Zeref asked dryly, trying to disguise the something that was sparking back to life in his eyes._

"_You were crying," She said softly, watching the spark carefully. "You looked like you had been through hell and back and you just kept crying and crying. And when I finally let you know that I was there, you freaked out and shot away from me. Like you were afraid I was going to hurt you. So, being the fearless seven year old that I was, I just kept moving forward until you couldn't back up any father and grabbed your hand."  
>She looked at him. "Do you remember what I told you?"<br>"Should I?" He replied, struggling to keep his voice even._

_She took a step towards him and noted with a hint of irony that he took a step back._

"_I told you," She said, continuing on as she walked towards him. "That it was alright, that everything was going to fine, that I'd take care of you. So, I took you home and endured a lecture from my parents before convince them to take you to the doctors to get taken care of." She smiled again. "The whole time, you never let go of my hand."  
>"You came to live with us, and it took a while, but eventually, you let me in. You were my best friend and I was yours, but you were still skittish about being touched by other people, so I gave you Mama's garden gloves, do you remember?"<br>"No." He said stubbornly, shaking his head.  
>"And then Mama got sick, and you were there for me through all that. And when she died and I pushed everyone away, you just kept coming back until I let you back in. For six wonderful years you were my closest friend. Until you called me out to the garden that night and told me that you had to go." Tears gathered in her eyes at the memory. "I thought that you had finally grown tired of me, that I wasn't good enough for you anymore."<br>She took a deep breath.  
>"And then you kissed me."<br>He froze.  
><em>

_"I-I-" she faltered before taking another deep breath to collect herself. "I realized the full extent of my feelings for you, and then you left and I was alone. So bitterly alone, and lost. Caught up in regret for all the things I should've done when I had the chance and all the things that I never told you. And I hated you; I hated you for leaving me lost in this darkness. It took me a year and that incident with Fallon to finally break away from all that, for me to realize that I needed to move on with my life and find something or __**someone**__ to fill that hole you left in my life. And then I met Natsu and joined Fairy Tail, and when he took me to our guild, I knew the minute that I walked through those doors that I was where I was meant to be. Actually, you know what? That's lie. I think I knew the minute that he smiled at me in Hargeon that I was where I was meant to be. I felt complete and whole in a way that I had never felt before, even with you, and for the first time in almost a year I really and truly laughed and __**lived **__with my whole heart. These past few months, with my old memories coming back to haunt me, I've been so caught up in the past that I convinced myself that I wasn't whole anymore, that I was the same person that I was then. That I was broken beyond repair, a useless toy that had outlived its use the moment that it refused to go along with Papa's wishes. But that's not true, I am Lucy of Fairy Tail and I am not broken. I have cracks and flaws, but at the end of the day I am whole."  
>She gazed at him with renewed determination.<br>"The past, it chains you down and locks you in an endless cycle that can never be broken __**so long as you allow it to continue.**__ In order to move forward towards the future, you have to accept that the past is the past and sometimes, you just have to let go."  
>"Shut up!" Zeref snarled at her, all traces of composure long gone. "You talk of leaving the past in the past, but if I were tell you the true story of your mother's death, you would be as locked in the same cycle as I am!"<br>Lucy's heart skipped a beat.  
>It was a trick; he was trying to knock her off her game.<br>There was no 'true story', her mother had just gotten sick, and that's all there was.  
>"I don't need the 'true story', like I said, what's past is past." She replied; now she was the one struggling to keep her voice even.<em>

_Zeref smiled wickedly.  
><em>_"Then you won't mind if I tell you my side of the story. After all, I have been forced to listen to your sweet sentimentality for long enough, don't you think?"_

_She said nothing, and Zeref smirked victoriously.  
>"You see, when I was reborn into this world, I carried with me all the powers that I possessed in a previous life, but I didn't have the harness to control them. In seven short years, my powers had manifested to the point where if someone so much as made the tiniest amount of contact with my skin a curse would be transmitted to them, which gradually sucked their life energy out of them and led them to an early grave. The longer the contact, the shorter their life span became. My parents were horrified and I was thrown out the house faster than you can say 'Oh my god you killed cousin Fred!'" He grinned at her as a cold chill began to trickle its way down her spine.<br>"Of course, I hadn't regained my memories at that time, so I had absolutely no idea why this was happening, and I spent the next few months wandering around the area, scavenging for food and relying on the kindness of total strangers; of old men and women who would feed and shelter me only to drop dead in a matter of seconds. My life was a long list of causalities that kept on piling up, one after the other until by some twist of fate, I found myself on your estate nestled between some magnolias and some mint, begging for it all to end."  
>Something faltered and flickered in Zeref's eyes, as if another consciousness was reinstating itself in his mind.<br>"And then you came. And you…you reached out and grabbed my hand." His gaze drifted to his hands. "And you…you were so…warm…and bright, just like the sun. And, to someone that had lived his entire life in the shadows, you were overwhelming. I had met others like that but, right after touching me, they all froze and withered away to nothing. But if anything you…grew even brighter." He closed his eyes. "And you were so warm…"  
>"And in return for your warmth, I ended up taking away the person that made such a wonderful warmth possible."<br>Lucy couldn't seem to breathe, the lump in her throat making it almost impossible to swallow.  
>"It only the smallest touch, the tiniest amount of contact. She just leaned over to ruffle my hair and that was it; she also began to wither and die, just like all the others."<br>"But this time, it was different."  
>Lucy managed to push her voice around the lump in her throat.<br>"Different how?"  
><em>

_Zeref looked at his hands again, a hint of disgust tinting his gaze.  
>"She…she knew what had happened the instant it happened. Right away, she knew that she had been cursed and she knew who I really was. She realized that you were impervious to the curse because of who you really are, and took her time concocting a plan to deal with me." He began trembling slightly.<br>"She told me, a few months before the end, that she had found someone that would be able to defeat me and put an end to this miserable existence that only hurt people before I could really 'wake up'. She told me that if I didn't follow her plan that I would cause you to end up like her." He turned his gaze to Lucy; his eyes shining with unshed tears and pain.  
>"You…you were…<em>_**are…**__my everything. The mere thought that I was going to cause you to end up like her..." He took a deep, shaking breath.  
>"She told me that I had to go to Hargeon in six years and wait at the port at midnight. She told me that a dragon would meet me there and take me to an isolated island where I would wait until a pink-haired boy named Natsu arrived. She told me that he would be the one to end this miserable existence and save me from hurting you or anyone else. She told me that he would possess the power and ability to do so." He clenched his fists. "She told me that he would be able to do it, she <em>_**promised**__ me! He…He was supposed to finish me! He was supposed to make sure that this didn't happen!" He let out a sob, tears falling down his pale cheeks. "He…he…"  
>His sobs echoed in the emptiness that surrounded them as no one moved for a moment, before Lucy carefully made her way over to where he stood and wrapped her arms around him.<br>"Shh…shh...Neil, it's alright." She stroked his hair gently. "It's alright. I don't blame you."  
>He recoiled backwards and shoved her away from him.<br>"You should! You should be screaming at me! Shouting and blaming me for what I've done! Calling me a monster and all sorts of other abominations that I put to shame!" His face crumpled as even more tears stained his cheeks. "Why…why are you so…?"_

"_Screaming and yelling won't change anything." Lucy said calmly. "Mama will still be dead and you'll still be hurting. I can't stop death, nor can I rewind the clock, but I can stop the people that are in front of me right now from hurting." Once more, she stepped forward and encircled him in her arms. "So that's what I'm doing."  
>"You…you're just so…"Neil's voice shook with disbelief.<br>Lucy laughed quietly. "Forceful? Yeah, I've heard that before…"  
>Neil let out a short bark of laughter before it turned into another sob. Wrapping his arms around Lucy and accepting her embrace, he lent down and pressed his face into her neck. Inhaling the familiar warmth and trying to gather up some of her tremendous strength.<br>"When he…when he woke up," Neil started shakily, his voice wavering; threatening to give out at the slightest notice. "I was shoved somewhere dark and cold. I could see everything that was going on, I could see everything that this body was doing, but I couldn't stop it." His eyes screwed shut and his grip on her tightened as his hands began to tremble. "And I screamed and wailed and __**pleaded**__ for you to realize that it wasn't me anymore, but you couldn't hear Me."  
>"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She said quietly, arms tightening around him as a protective measure, as if one hug and a few whispered words of apology and forgiveness would fix it all. Like it would mend the years of heartbreak and guilt in one fell swoop; like a beautiful dream or like the endings in her favorite romance books. A silence covered them as they both wished for such a dream to become a reality, but knowing all the while that it was useless to hold on to the tattered remains of such a hope.<br>_

_"Is…is he gone?" Neil asked tentatively, ending the silence.  
>She shook her head.<br>"Zeref…he's still there inside your mind, you just shoved him out for now."  
>He shivered. "Doesn't he know when to give up?" He muttered wryly before snuggling deeper in Lucy's arms.<br>"Apparently not." Lucy smiled softly.  
>Neil sighed and gripped Lucy even tighter.<br>She winced and glanced down at him, worry begin to gnaw at her heart. "Neil?"  
>"Lulu." He murmured, slurring the word slightly, "Lulu…you're really warm you know? You've always been so warm…you're like the sun…so warm."<br>Lucy felt her heart skip a beat.  
>"Neil. Neil, what's wrong?"<br>He let out another sigh, contentment spilling over his features.  
>"Lulu, I'm really tired. So…I'm going…to go to sleep first…all right? I'm going to take Zeref with me…so you don't need to worry about him…but…you do need to take care of the other guy…ok? Sorry…I won't be there for that…I'm just so tired…"<br>"Neil, no!" Lucy cried, pulling back to try and look at his face, only to be held in place by his tight grip. "Neil, stay with me! Neil!"  
>"Shhh, Lulu. You and I both know…that screaming and shouting and…wanting this to end differently isn't going to change anything." Neil murmured quietly, eyes beginning to droop. <em>

"_Sorry…Lulu…just…stay with me like this…for a little bit more…"  
>Her eyes filled with tears.<br>"You don't have to do this! We can figure out a way to defeat Zeref and make it out of this together!"  
>He shook his head gently.<br>"There's no other way. Him and me, we're too tightly connected to send one away without the other. And since it's highly unlikely that he's going to send himself away, I'll have to do it now, while I'm still in control."  
>She shook her head rapidly and burrowed her head into his shoulder.<br>"Please, please don't leave me alone again!"  
>Neil lifted up his hand and stroked her hair gently.<br>"What are you talking about? You're not alone. You've got all those guys out there waiting for you, don't you?" She felt him smile against her neck. "It's rude to keep them waiting, you know?"  
>She let out a sob and clutched him tighter to her body, tears spilling down her cheeks. Neil hummed quietly and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek before snuggling into her neck one last time.<br>"I really do…love…this warmth…"  
>A golden glow surrounded the two as Neil separated into thousands of tiny particles of golden light with one final sigh; floating gently away into the darkness and leaving Lucy with arms still encircling the place where his body had been, hands clutching at empty air.<br>"Neil…" She whispered brokenly as she dropped to her knees. She covered her face in her hands and sobbed loudly before throwing her head back and screaming:  
>"NEIL!"<br>"Was he really that important to you?"  
>Her head whipped around to see a long figure in a dark cloak standing just a few feet from her, the two blue flames beneath his hood watching her curiously.<br>"You…" She said, her anger instantly replacing the sorrow. _

"_It is that pink haired boy that you love right? So why are you so upset that that one died?" The hooded figure asked curiously.  
>She shot up instantly and glared daggers at the hooded figure.<br>"Of course I love Natsu! But Neil also holds a special place in my heart." She clenched her fists. "They're both important people to me, and I love them." Tears of hatred and fury ran down her cheeks and mingled with the ones of sorrow. "How could you take away someone that important to me, Death?!"  
>The Death was silent for a moment before chuckling quietly.<br>Lucy stiffened, her jaw clenching.  
>"Is the loss of a life really that funny to you?"<br>Death sighed.  
>"You sound like all the others. Shouting, cursing and screaming my name all because I took someone away from them that they really loved with all their heart." Death turned to look somewhere off into the distance. "I can't decide whether that's worse than when I go and there's nobody there to cry and scream for the person. When they're the only person trying to keep a grip on life's robes and take in just one more gasp of air." He hummed quietly under his breath. "But then again, maybe it's worse when they gladly toss life aside for the chance to stop taking in the air that has become like a poison to them, a cage that holds them in an endless prison. That's when their loved ones scream the most I find, because they loved that person so much, they meant so much to them, and in the minute they looked away, or didn't look closely enough, they lost that person forever. Well, lost to them until they take their last breath that is." <em>

_Lucy shook her head.  
>"How can you be so detached like that? Don't their feelings reach you in some way? Why do you continue to take people away if all it causes is sorrow?" She accused.<br>Death turned back to face Lucy, the blue fire burning brightly in what seemed like irritation.  
>"Are you really that naïve, Lucy Heartfilia?" His cold tone made Lucy flinch. "Do you really think that I like what I do? That I like listening to people scream and curse my name while their loved ones beg me to let them live just that little bit longer?"<br>Lucy was silent, letting his words slowly sink in.  
>"The fact of the matter is that this is my duty and my purpose; it's the job that the universe has created me for. No matter how much I hate it, I have to do it." The blue fire dimmed down a bit and he snorted. "It's rather hilarious, the whole reason that life is revered and treated as something infinitely precious is because I exist. I am the solemn reminder that life is not forever and should be treated like the fragile glass that it is. And as a result," Lucy could hear the smirk in his voice, "You all hate me."<br>He looked away from Lucy again, the fire in his eyes dimming even further. "That's what made her different."  
><em>

_"Love?" Lucy tentatively asked.  
>Death nodded. "Yeah."<br>"My whole existence was just thousands of years of taking and taking and taking, but never giving. When Love was with me, when I made her laugh or smile, I felt like I was finally giving back. And that crippling loneliness that had encompassed me was finally something of the past." His bony hands clenched into fists. "And that was all ruined by one selfish human who couldn't stand his own powerlessness."  
>Lucy said nothing; just observed Death's anger quietly.<br>"She was everything, she was so wonderful and precious and I loved her…I loved her…more than anything. And that selfish bastard had the audacity to take that smiling face and ruin her. To cover her with bruises and to shatter her heart into such tiny pieces that, try as I might, I could never perfectly put back together again." His whole form shook, pure anger radiating in huge waves from him.  
>"And she still stayed with him, with that absolute-he didn't even deserve to breathe the same air as her, let alone be <em>_**married**__ to her!" He swung his arms wildly, the long baggy arms of his robe dancing angrily in the air. "I would never have treated her like that, I would've loved her with my whole existence, devoted myself to her and her alone. I would've made her smile my top priority, and if I thought my existence was hurting her, I would've left her side __**immediately**__. I would've done anything to make her happy; anything!" His voice shook and broke towards the end of his sentence. "Anything…"  
><em>

_Lucy was quiet for a moment more before speaking.  
>"And yet, all you've done since she left is stuff that's sure to make her unhappy." She fixed him with a sharp glare as Death stiffened noticeably. "Your presence within Zeref has caused the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. Do you honestly think that Love would be happy with that? And you, are you happy making all those others feel what you did? Feel the same powerlessness as they watched their loved ones fade away from them as they watched?"<br>"At first? I didn't let it affect me." Death shook his head. "But after a while, I noticed that their screams wouldn't leave my head like the others had. They drilled, and still do, through my very being. They left me with no place to run, to hide from their overwhelming presence." He chuckled dryly. "Eventually, they stopped sounding like millions of individual cries and turned into one huge scream. Her scream." He sighed and raised his head, just reveling in the silence. Lucy stayed quiet and watched him carefully.  
><em>

_"You know, Lucy Heartfilia," She jumped a bit when he finally spoke again. "I've just realized how immensely useless this all ended up being, all this death and destruction in the name of trying to find her, but in the end I'm probably farther away from her than I was before this all began." He tried to chuckle again, but it cracked in the middle with what sounded like a sob. "And I'm just, so tired. I'm tired of the screams, and I'm tired of hurting people." He looked back at her again; the fire in his eyes nothing but a dull glow now. "I can hear them screaming for you, you know. Your guild, that is, they're creating quite the cacophony out there." He gave another chuckle sob. "Especially that dragon slayer of yours, though he is more roaring than screaming, but still." He gave a sigh. "Ahh…I think, that you need to get back to them." He nodded and turned to walk away.  
><em>

_"Wait!" Lucy blurted out. Death paused mid-step and turned to look back at her. "What are you going to do now?" Lucy questioned, fatigue beginning to creep up on her and the edges of her vision blurring.  
>"Me?" Death paused for a minute. "I think it's time for me to finally follow where Love went." As he spoke, his cloak began to dissolve into millions of tiny blue particles that began to drift away past Lucy; in the direction that Neil had gone. "And Lucy Heartfilia, please know that I am sorry for all that I have done to wrong you and all the wrongs that I have committed to all those others. Though I know it doesn't make up for what I've done, I am truly sorry."<br>Lucy shook her head. "I can't offer you absolution from the others that you have wronged. But I can offer you my forgiveness, and my wish that wherever it is that you are going, you will continue to try and make up for what you have done."  
>Death chuckled. "Your heart is too big Lucy Heartfilia, you've given me more than I deserve." He paused as the particles reached his neck. "Thank-you."<br>And though she couldn't see it under his hood, before the only thing left of Death was particles, she could have sworn that he had smiled._

* * *

><p>Levy jumped back with an screech of surprise, instantly attracting the attention of all the guild members.<br>"What happened?!" Natsu yelled, rushing over to where she had been standing.  
>"The barrier, it's dissolved!" Levy told him, sitting up and rubbing the arm that she had fallen on. Natsu's gaze flipped instantly over to where Lucy lay and within seconds he was by her side, pushing Zeref's body away from her.<br>"Lucy! Luce! Wake up!"  
>With a soft groan, Lucy Heartfilia's eyelids flickered open.<p>

* * *

><p>At Magnolia's church, a gravestone stood. Carved from white marble, the engraving upon it consisted of only one word: Neil.<br>Lucy made her way through the graveyard to this particular gravestone and lay her burden down upon it. A bundle of white roses that the nice lady at the floral shop had helped her pick, and then given her a discount once she knew what they were for, now lay upon the previously empty ground in front of the grave. Sitting herself down upon the ground, she drew her knees in and rested her head upon them, staring at the grave in front of her.  
>"So Neil," she cleared her throat. "It's been a while. You wouldn't believe all the stuff that's happened at the guild. Lisanna's finally looking me in the eye again, and Mirajane and I are back on good terms. Elfman and Natsu are friends again, and Cana can now drink five times her own weight in beer." Lucy chuckled. "Natsu, Happy, Grey, Erza and I have started going on missions again. But we still have to turn in a lot of the reward money because of all the damage those three cause." She sighed, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. "Gajeel and Levy are finally going out, and so are Grey and Juvia." She rolled her eyes. "It seems that finding out that you were a couple in your past life does nothing to speed up the process of becoming one in this life. Thank-God for our resident guild matchmakers, or we'd still have to deal with kicked puppy dog looks and endless circles those guys were weaving around each other for the rest of our lives." She smiled. "Though, I suppose that's how they use to feel about me and Natsu, eh?" She paused for a minute, listening to the wind whistle through the trees around her and gently brush over her skin.<p>

"I miss you Neil, I miss you like crazy. I miss all the little talks that we used to have, and just the thought that I'm never going to hear your voice ever again, hear your laugh, watch your eyes sparkle and bask in the friendship and love that you gave me is enough to send me over the edge." She blinked back the tears gathering in her eyes. "But, then I remember what you told me before you left, that I had people waiting for me to come back. And when I raise my head and look around, I can see them all around me, smiling and giving me the strength to keep going." She sniffed and wiped away the solitary tear that had escaped down her cheek. "And when I look in front of me, I can see Natsu, grinning like an idiot and yelling at me to hurry up." She smiled. "Just like that day in Hargeon all over again. Except now I can reach up and kiss him anytime I want."  
>"So I going to keep on living Neil, and whenever I feel like I can't handle the world anymore, I'm going to look at all the people that love me and I'm going to draw my strength to keep going from them."<p>

She stood up and brushed off the grass that had gathered on the back of her legs.  
>"I have to go now Neil, I promised Natsu that I'd meet him at the guild before we head out on our date tonight." She laid a hand on the gravestone. "I love you, Neil. I hope that wherever you are, you're happy." She stood still for a moment more before turning away from the gravestone and making her way towards the gate. Upon reaching it, she gave one last glance around the churchyard before opening the gate and walking right into Natsu's chest.<p>

"Hey, Luce." Natsu grinned brightly.  
>Lucy shook her head and sighed. "I thought we were going to meet at the guild."<br>Natsu shifted, embarrassed. "Well, yeah, but I saw you coming this way and I figured that I'd just see if you were alright."  
>Lucy let a smile sneak across her face before wrapping his arms around Natsu.<br>"I'm fine; thanks for worrying."  
>Natsu didn't move for a moment before wrapping his arms around Lucy and drawing her closer towards him. Natsu put his nose in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent as she snuggled closer to his chest, both of them content for the moment to just be still and enjoy being alive.<p>

"I love you Luce." Natsu whispered.  
>"I love you too, Natsu." Lucy whispered back.<br>With the wind brushing over them and the sun warming their backs, and the soft sounds of the life surrounding them, they let the world run its course around them. Content in the knowledge that despite whatever this world would throw at them, they would stand tall and face it together.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end folks, hope you enjoyed and thank-you for reading my story :)<strong>


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